


Redemption

by JanewayDroideka



Series: Redemption [2]
Category: Code Geass
Genre: Characters and pairings added as I get there, F/M, For Want of a Nail, Main pairings are Suzaku/Euphy and Shirley/Lulu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-04-29 11:19:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 75,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14471556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JanewayDroideka/pseuds/JanewayDroideka
Summary: Sequel to "Visits". Euphemia li Britannia survived Zero's bullet and has had her geass effect removed by Jeremiah. But with her life in danger, she and Suzaku must turn to Zero for protection, and with Euphemia alive Lelouch's life has been radically changed - for his greatest mistake has returned and reminded him of their mutual need for redemption.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the sequel to "Visits" that I mentioned in the notes there. This will be... considerably longer. Please, enjoy.

Lelouch vi Britannia, the infamous Zero, was in the Vermillion City, looking out towards the setting sun. It was strangely beautiful. But he had things to do. A coup to co-opt. A nation to break apart.

He prepared to leave when he felt something press against his back. He glanced slightly behind himself and saw Suzaku glowering at him. "Zero," he said quietly, "I'm only going to ask you this once. Is there a way to remove geass?"

Lelouch said nothing.

The door to the balcony opened and Kallen came out. "Ze- Suzaku!" Kallen said, "Schneizel said-"

"Tell me, Zero," Suzaku said. He pressed the gun further into Lelouch's back.

Lelouch kept his gaze on him. Why was he trying this now? "What is geass?" Lelouch said slowly.

Suzaku grimaced and he put his gun down. "Don't harass his majesty tomorrow, Zero. This was agreed to by the Chinese empress too," Suzaku snapped, and he stormed away as Kallen ran up to Zero.

"Are you ok?" Kallen said once he was gone. Lelouch nodded.

He decided to worry later about Suzaku and Eberhardt from the party earlier. "Kallen," Lelouch said, "contact CC and tell her to begin moving in the flagship. Then go find Kaguya and tell her we'll be leaving soon."

"Understood," Kallen said, and she walked away.

He waited until Kallen had completely left then said, "you can come speak to me now, doctor. We're alone."

Dr. Max Eberhardt walked out onto the balcony. "I'm glad you picked up on that, Zero," Eberhardt said. "Acting in front of Schneizel is hard enough."

"I figured you had more to ask than just whether I'm the old Zero or not, Dr. Eberhardt," Lelouch said. "You are a long-standing royal physician. What I do should have no impact on you. So why do you care who I am?"

"Why do I care? It's not so much for me, but for a patient of mine," Eberhardt said. He walked over to the balcony and looked out at the city. "What if I told you that I have a patient I saved on the  _Avalon_?"

"When was this?"

"Right before the Black Rebellion," Eberhardt said. He glanced at Lelouch and said, "of course, I can't tell you too much. That would violate my oaths as a physician. But I  _can_ guess that Suzaku was probably threatening you over that." A harsh gust of wind blew Lelouch's cape, and a thought came to Lelouch – a tiny glimmer of hope. Eberhardt fell silent. Once the wind was gone, he said, "I wish I knew a way to dispel geass, but for now I don't know how."

"So you know what geass is?" Lelouch said.

Eberhardt smiled. "I can recognize it when I see it," he said. "It's very familiar to me." He was silent for almost a minute, looking out at the city, then said, "I think I know who the old Zero was. That he had geass. Now he plays at being a student at a local high school, like before. I'm not actually going to ask you if you are the same. But if you are…"

"If I am?"

"Then please, protect my patient," Eberhardt said. "I learned tonight that the time will come soon when they need protection from Britannia. The only salvation may be with you."

"By any chance," Lelouch said, trying to quash any emotion as he spoke, "is your patient a princess?"

Eberhardt smiled. "Patients are all the same to me," he said. "I'm just giving you forewarning. I hope, for your sake, nothing bad happens to them."

"Understood," Lelouch said. Eberhardt nodded and left, and Lelouch couldn't help but feel a flicker of hope: that Euphy had survived his shot.

* * *

The flicker was confirmed a few weeks later, when Rolo told him a strange girl was at their door, and Lelouch went to the door to see Euphemia, looking a little worse for wear. She had glasses on, and Lelouch could tell they weren't just for disguise. Her eyes themselves looked duller than he remembered. Her hair was shorter and paler and tucked as much as she could in a hat. Her skin was whiter than he remembered, like she hadn't been in sunlight in a long time.

But still, it was his sister. His sister, who he'd turned into a monster, who was in Japan now without killing any Japanese. His sister, seemingly cured from the curse of geass.

After she went to bed, all Lelouch could do was start laughing in joy.

But as he drifted off to sleep, a single thought started coursing through his mind: the massacre itself. He hadn't really thought about it – after all, he had no plan on ever stating what had actually happened between him and Euphemia, and why she had really snapped. And he knew people like Suzaku weren't about to start going around and telling people. But Euphy was such that she would probably try and tell people what had happened, because she needed to clear her own name and apologize for her actions.

All this meant that a reckoning was going to come in. Lelouch had to decide how to handle that.

That night, he dreamt of shooting Euphy again.

The next day at school was very strange. Euphy, the nightmare, the massacre – it was all weighing down on Lelouch. He almost fell asleep in three classes. Suzaku was faring no better – he seemed both antsy and more fake and angry than ever before, and something told Lelouch that it was best not to tell him where Euphy was right now. Strangest of all, Shirley was avoiding him.

A thought occurred to him towards the end of the day, after noting that, all day, Shirley hadn't been at school. Euphy was free of geass. If whatever process had been done that was applied to Shirley, then she would remember who he was and what he had done to her father. But he had no way of knowing without finding Shirley. She wasn't answering her phone, so for lack of anything better to do for now he decided to go visit Euphy.

He found her cooking in his kitchen. "I'm so glad to cook for real again," Euphy said when Lelouch walked in.

"They didn't let you in prison?"

"I was a danger to everyone."

"Oh… sorry."

She nodded and turned back to her food. Lelouch's phone buzzed. Shirley? But it wasn't her – it was a Black Knight contact. The trains had come in. "I need to go pay a visit to the train station," Lelouch said, "be safe."

Euphy nodded.

* * *

Euphy finished eating her tomato soup and was washing out the pot when she heard the front door open and close. She put the pot down and peeked out from the kitchen. No one was there.

Rolo and Sayoko weren't in, and Lelouch had been gone for half an hour. Euphy frowned. Maybe she'd imagined it… a side-effect from geass' removal. She prepared to go back to the pot.

Then she heard a thud from outside. She gasped and rushed over to the door and looked through the peephole. Outside, Sayoko was lying on the ground, and in the distance was what looked like a cyborg. Rolo moved in, and the cyborg froze – and then an orange sphere emerged around the cyborg, and he easily defeated Rolo.

Orange sphere… "that was what freed me," Euphy said to herself.

She rushed to get her disguise back on then rushed outside. "You just missed Viletta," Sayoko said, and she coughed and said, "Jeremiah is going after Master Lelouch. Rolo's gone to provide reinforcements…"

"Alright," Euphy said, and she brought Sayoko inside before running back outside.

Tracing Rolo wasn't too hard, and Euphy knew enough about driving that it was easy enough for her to follow Rolo in a school car while Rolo drove what looked like a stolen motorbike through the highways. Rolo got off at a mall currently filled with billowing smoke and he ran in. Euphy saw Suzaku momentarily, talking to emergency workers… but she decided to rush inside instead.

She found guards lying on the ground with several guns on the floor. Euphy looked around and bit her lip. "That must've been the cyborg," she said aloud, and she picked up one of the guns. She doubted it would work well on him but protecting herself and Lelouch was more important.

She continued through the hallways, quietly, on the lookout for potential threats. She wondered what the doctors would think about her crawling around a bit of Japan, armed, again.

She tensed up when she saw a figure moving in the smoke. It didn't look like the cyborg. "Who are you!?" Euphy said, holding her gun up at the figure. Her hands were shaking.

A tall, orange-haired girl stepped out of the smoke. She had a gun herself, pointed at Euphy. "Who are you?" the girl said.

"Um, a- a friend of Lelouch's," Euphy said.

The girl's face brightened. "Really?" she said, "me too! I'm Shirley. I could swear I've seen you somewhere before…"

"I-I'm not surprised," Euphy said, "I'm, uh, I'm Euphy."

"Euphy… wait," Shirley said, and she held her gun up right at Euphy, "you're Suzaku's girlfriend. The massacre princess, the one that killed all those people-"

"No – I mean, yes, but I – I didn't mean to!" Euphy said, taking a step back, "I was forced-"

"Did… did Lulu do it on purpose?" Shirley said, her suspicion being wiped with a look of discomfort.

Euphy quickly shook her head. "He didn't mean to either, Shirley, we were going to work together!" Euphy said.

A third figure stepped out of the smoke – Rolo. "What are you two doing with guns?" he said, looking between the two.

"We're trying to find the cyborg," Euphy said quickly.

"Rolo," Shirley said, and she added, "you're helping Lulu too, right? Helping Zero?"

Another unreadable  _something_ flashed across Rolo's face. "Yeah," he said, "you're not trying to find him, are you?"

"Of course," Euphy said, "we need to help him. He's in danger, right?"

Rolo's face went blank as he stared at Euphy. "We're trying to help him reunite with Nunna," Shirley said, "that's all, Rolo."

"Your little sister now too, Rolo!" Euphy added quickly.

Rolo looked down, away from both of them. "Little sister?" he said.

Then they all looked up as they heard two sets of feet coming towards them. "This is the knight of seven!" Suzaku's voice said, distantly. "Come forward or face Britannian might!"

From the other direction, Euphy picked up on Lelouch's voice saying, "why isn't Sayoko picking up?"

"Does Suzaku know about Lulu?" Shirley said.

Rolo shook his head. "His cover might be blown!" Rolo said, "maybe I should-"

"No!" Euphy said, shaking her head harshly, "please, Rolo, don't put Suzaku in danger." She bit her lip and said, "Shirley, hold me hostage."

"Huh?"

"Make it look like you want to kill me! When Lelouch shows up, he can stop me, and then he can keep up his cover!" Euphy said. She didn't actually know what cover Rolo was talking about, but it was clearly important.

Shirley nodded. "Right!" she said, and she held her gun up to Euphy. Euphy leveled her gun at Shirley too. And then she waited for Lelouch and Suzaku to arrive.

* * *

Events moved quickly: Jeremiah, of all people, showed up to attack the school. Rolo said he had a geass canceller. Fortunately, he wasn't looking for Euphy. Unfortunately, he was looking for Lelouch. However, Lelouch had ended up receiving unusual company before that: running into Suzaku, who he guessed was still looking for Euphy, this time on foot, and then Shirley, who had an emotional meltdown and tried to jump off the roof. Lelouch had surprised himself by jumping after her with no regard for himself, and he probably would have died with Shirley if Suzaku hadn't saved them. And then Jeremiah had arrived, and Lelouch sent Suzaku and Shirley away.

The meeting with Jeremiah ended up being better than he could have ever imagined, as he now got a perfectly loyal soldier to Marianne and her son. And then he'd set back through the mall and wound up finding Shirley, Rolo, and Euphy. All three had guns.

Shirley was staring in disbelief, and Euphy was looking at her almost warily. Rolo glanced up at Lelouch and then away towards the hall, then ran off. "Shirley?" Lelouch said, walking up to them, "what are you-"

"Guys!" Suzaku called, and he ran up to the three. "Wait- Euphy?"

Euphy looked at him. "Suzaku," she said, "what're you-"

"I-I thought you were dead!" Shirley said. She glanced at Suzaku and then her hands started trembling and she pointed her gun at Euphy's head. "You- do you know how many people died because of you-"

"Don't blame her!" Suzaku snarled, stepping in front of Euphy, "blame-"

"Zero," Lelouch said, stepping in front of Shirley. He eased the gun out of her hand and said, "blame Zero, Shirley. Not her." Suzaku breathed in sharply, but he lowered his arms. Lelouch let Shirley's gun drop and then turned to Suzaku and Euphy. "Isn't that right, Suzaku?" Lelouch added.

Suzaku was quiet for a second, and then looked down. "Yeah," Suzaku said, "that's right."

Lelouch turned back to Shirley, who was looking at him wide-eyed. Then she nodded. "Alright, Lulu," Shirley said. "Um, I'll wait for you outside." She walked away, and Lelouch turned back to Euphy and Suzaku.

"I'm right about Zero, aren't I?" Lelouch said, crossing his arms. "Officially, Princess Euphemia went crazy or something and tried to kill the Japanese. But rumor has it that Zero met with her before that all started."

Suzaku was clearly trying to hide a glare at Lelouch as he said, "and do you know how that happened?"

Lelouch shook his head. "Torture, maybe. Or a hostage. I'm afraid I don't know," he said, shrugging. He looked at Euphy and said, "I suppose I owe a royal proper respect, however." He knelt down and said, "I am Lelouch Lamperouge, your highness. Please forgive my girlfriend. She has a big heart and doesn't always think through her actions."

Euphy stepped out from behind Suzaku. "Um… did she lose someone in the – in the massacre?" Euphy said.

Lelouch thought for a second, then said, "I've… never pressed her on it."

Euphy nodded, then said, "also, Lelouch, why are you-"

But Suzaku took her hand and shook his head. Lelouch barely hid his smirk at this – Suzaku was helping to keep his cover. "It's been an honor to meet you, my lady," Lelouch said, standing again. "Suzaku, did you catch the terrorist?"

"I… no," Suzaku said, quickly releasing Euphy's hand. "But… I've got to help Eu- the Princess right now."

"Alright. Until later," Lelouch said. He waved goodbye to them and quickly found Shirley in the hallway. It seemed she'd been listening in. "Do you think he bought it?" Lelouch said once he estimated they were out of earshot.

"I hope so," Shirley said. "He didn't notice my bad acting, at least. Um, Lulu, did you mean to-"

"No," Lelouch said. "I can't tell you how happy I was to see her alive."

Shirley nodded. Then she bit her lip and said, "she said something like that. When did you find her?"

"She showed up at my house last night," Lelouch replied. They walked further into the mall and he said, "Schneizel's trying to kill her. I just hope Suzaku will listen to her."

Shirley nodded. "We ran into each other and then that boy showed up – uh, Rolo. I hope he's ok too," Shirley said.

Lelouch smiled at this. Her memory had been more affected by the geass canceller than he realized. "Rolo will survive," he said. "C'mon." They were approaching the exit of the mall, so he slipped his hand into Shirley's. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Suzaku lead Euphy through the smoky rooms and then said, "forgive me, Euphy. I have to take you back now," as he tore a strip of cloth off of her shirt.

"Suzaku!" Euphy said, "no, please, don't!"

"I'm sorry. It's for your own good," Suzaku said. His mind was still working over the implications of his meeting with Lelouch and Shirley. He didn't know where Shirley had found a gun, or, for that matter, Euphy. He just hoped that she hadn't shot any Japanese yet. But the most important thing was that Lelouch didn't recognize Euphy – and he defended Euphy against Shirley by saying that Zero had been the killer.

Was it possible that normal Euphy was right, and Lelouch  _hadn't_ meant to transform her?

"And if you bring me back, I'll die! Please don't do that to me!"

Suzaku was snapped out of his thoughts by Euphy. She was struggling with her makeshift handcuffs, tears in her eyes. "You won't die if I put you back in your apartment," Suzaku said. He sighed and said, "I'll move you to a new apartment. You've probably seen this was Japan by now. The next place won't be."

"Suzaku, I don't care if I'm in Japan!" Euphy yelled. "I-I've been hiding out since yesterday, and I haven't killed anyone! It wouldn't even occur to me anymore!"

"What are you talking about?" Suzaku said, turning to face her.

And then his eyes went wide when he looked into hers. The red fringe was gone.

"Please, Suzaku!" Euphy said, "I-I command you, as my knight, to listen to me!"

Suzaku was too stunned to say anything. The red fringe… "how?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Euphy said, "but I don't want to kill anymore! The pain that went with that – it's gone! It's all gone!"

"You – you –" Suzaku wanted to say that she had tried this before, the red fringe was completely gone. Somehow, geass was gone. He laughed and gave her a big hug. "I hope you feel a lot better now, Euphy."

"Suzaku…"

He undid her restraint, and then he threw his arms around her as they kissed. They broke off, and Suzaku said, "I- should we tell the Emperor? Or Schneizel?"

"No!" Euphy said, "we can't tell him!"

"Schneizel?" Suzaku said, "why not? He made sure you could come to Japan with me."

"Schneizel wants me dead," Euphy said.

"Says who?" Suzaku said.

"Says us," came the voice of Max.

Suzaku turned around, and saw Max and Julie walk out of the smoke. "While you were in China, Sir Kanon called me and told me to set up the computer systems so that they would stop taking recording on a certain day," Julie said. She was looking down and said softly, "I-I did it, but it felt wrong. I knew what might happen."

"And I got a call too," Max said. He held up his phone and said, "here."

He pressed a button, and the distinct voice of Kanon came over: "Dr. Eberhardt, we have orders from the Prime Minister. Your patient is too dangerous. We've decided to, ah,  _transfer_  her ourselves. Don't tell Kururugi, or your life will be forfeit too."

"Then- when you Schneizel talked to you in China," Suzaku said, instinctively taking Euphy's hand and trying to guide her behind him to protect her. She didn't move. "That was to confirm-"

"Yes," Max said. "But killing a patient, or stepping aside to allow it, is against my oath as a doctor. I decided to figure out what to do to protect Princess Euphemia. So I decided to see if I could figure out if that Zero was the same one that shot her."

"And what do you think?" Suzaku said.

"I don't know," Max said. "I couldn't probe much with Prince Schneizel there."

"Then…"

"Schneizel wants me dead so he can control you, Suzaku," Euphy said. "I'm not safe here, anymore."

"Then what do we do?" Suzaku said, "do we run away? Is this the time?"

"Nunnally still needs you," Euphy said. She looked at Max and said, "what do you think?"

"Our options are Europe, Australia, or the Black Knights and their alliance," Max said.

"The Black Knights would be the easiest to get to, and they have no extradition treaty like the other two," Julie said. "If anyone, I'd say them."

"That's out of question!" Suzaku barked.

"Suzaku," Euphy said, turning him so she could look him in the eyes again, "I think we should trust them."

"Why?"

"Because they're our best option. I think Zero feels guilty for what happened."

"Have you talked to him?" Suzaku said.

Euphy bit her lip and shook her head. Suzaku took a deep breath. Euphy was bad at lying. She probably had. But…

"We'll go wherever the princess wants to go," Max said.

"Then… I'll leave it up to you, Euphy," Suzaku said.

"Then I choose the Black Knights," Euphy said.

Suzaku nodded. "I want to call him, then," Suzaku said, "let me be the traitor for this."

"Alright." She took a paper from her clothes and handed it to Suzaku. It was a number written in her very neat handwriting. "This… this is Zero's number."

"Understood," Suzaku said, taking the number.

"You'd be willing to work with him?" Euphy said.

"I'd work with the devil himself if it meant protecting you," Suzaku replied. He looked at the paper, and then took out his phone. He took in a deep breath and said, "I swear it."


	2. Chapter 2

Suzaku called Lelouch less than a half hour later, on Lelouch's Zero phone. Lelouch was in his room, lounging in his chair, while Shirley read a magazine on his bed. She glanced up when the phone rang, but Lelouch shook his head and took it. "So," Lelouch said, "what does Britannia want this time?"

"Britannia doesn't want anything," Suzaku replied. "But I… I  _need_ you to help me."

"And why should I help you?"

"Because it's a chance to fix your mistake, or at least the last Zero's mistake!"

"Oh?"

"They're trying to kill her!"

"Kill who?"

"Euphy!"

Lelouch was quiet, for a full minute, almost purely for effect. "So," he finally said, "somehow princess massacre survived Zero's shot? Interesting."

"Yes, but now the prime minister wants her dead," Suzaku said. "Please, I'm begging you. She needs to be safe."

"And how would we do that?"

"You have an island! You have all of China! Please!" Suzaku said.

Lelouch drummed his fingers on his desk. "Is it just her?" he said.

"Her and her doctors. They told me about the attack. Please, they  _want_ to defect, and I  _need_ you to protect her!"

"And what do I get in return?" Lelouch said. Shirley glanced over at him and frowned. Lelouch wondered if she was thinking the same thing as him – that this was dangerously close to revealing his cards to Suzaku.

But Suzaku took the bait. "I – I'll get you Kallen too. Your pilot. The four of them will go, ok? Please, you just need to keep her safe."

Lelouch smiled and leaned back. "I'll never understand knights and their princesses," Lelouch said, "but I accept. I promise to you that, unlike the Zero of the Black Rebellion, I will do my utmost to protect Princess Euphemia. If anything happens to her, then kill me yourself. I won't stop you."

This time Suzaku was quiet for a little while. Then he said, "alright. I'll call you later when I've figured out how to get Kallen to you." And he hung up.

Lelouch glanced over at Shirley. "Can I count on you to help me with this?" he said.

"Of course, Lulu," Shirley said, sitting up. "Now come here. I want to cuddle."

Lelouch laughed – moreso at himself. What had he gotten himself in to? "Very well." They enjoyed each other's company for a little – though, as usual, Lelouch himself felt no particular romantic attachment to Shirley. "Here's what I'm thinking…"

* * *

It was one of the most nerve-wracking days of Suzaku's life. He hated betraying everything and working with Zero, but there was no other option. He  _had_ to protect Euphy from Schneizel. To Schneizel, Euphy was a constant loose end. Eventually she would escape and cause more problems. Better for her to  _actually_ die.

And now, because of that thinking, the Black Knights were going to get their best pilot back. But that didn't stop every cell in Suzaku's body screaming at him for betraying his adoptive nation to work with his most hated enemy. And furthermore, he  _knew_ that if he was found out, he would be without a home. How would Zero or the Black Knights ever be able to trust a Knight of the Round, and how would the Britannian Empire ever trust a knight who betrayed the Emperor's trust itself?

But he knew he couldn't go to Charles, and he couldn't confront Schneizel. And Zero…

 _Was_ Zero Lelouch? He had been sure, but between Zero telling him "unlike the Zero of the Black Rebellion, I will do my utmost to protect Princess Euphemia", and Lelouch's disgust with Zero and apparent amnesia of Nunnally and Euphy, that told Suzaku one of two things: one, that Lelouch was just a good actor. Or two, he really  _didn't_ remember anything, and this Zero was different.

But there was a final possibility nagging at Suzaku: Euphy was right when she said that Lelouch hadn't meant to make her into a monster. In that case, Lelouch's disgust was with himself, and his pledge to Suzaku – and the follow-up that Suzaku could kill him – was an attempt at making amends.

Either way, Suzaku had to hold up his end of the bargain or Zero wouldn't follow his. If this Zero  _was_ Lelouch, then Suzaku was sure that he would follow up. If not, then Suzaku was making a colossal mistake.

Zero contacted Suzaku the day after Suzaku first called him, telling him to get Euphy, her doctors, and Kallen to a furniture store two blocks from HQ. There they would meet up with a truck with "someone familiar" to Kallen. Zero didn't elaborate beyond that. "All you need to do by that point is make sure that the viceroy is safe, Kururugi," Zero said.

After Zero's call, Suzaku stole away from HQ to the safehouse he'd put Euphy and her doctors in. Max and Julie were already packed, but Euphy had barely anything on her. Suzaku told the plan to the three, then asked Max and Julie to go find a way to the furniture store that would keep them from watchful eyes. He still had something he had to do at HQ, after all.

The two left, leaving Suzaku with Euphy. "So," Suzaku said, "this… this might be it."

"What do you mean?" Euphy said, wide-eyed.

"I don't know if I'll ever see you again," Suzaku said, "but I couldn't bear to lose you."

"If I'm going away, then won't you lose me anyways?" Euphy said.

Suzaku looked down. He wasn't sure he could look her in the eyes. A second later, she had pulled him into a warm hug and she put her forehead against his. "I'm sorry, Euphy," Suzaku said, "maybe I can find a way so that we can be together again."

"Just don't die, Suzaku," Euphy said, "one day, this will all be over. Then we can be together."

Euphy released Suzaku from her hug. "Euphy, before I go," Suzaku said, "do you… do you remember a few months ago? When we talked about getting married?"

"You're not… backing out, are you?" Euphy said.

Suzaku shook his head, and then knelt down and pulled a small box from his cloak. "Lloyd and Cécile were the ones who picked it out. They're not being watched as closely, I think," Suzaku said as opened it.

He smiled as he heard Euphy gasp. It was a simple little ring, made of silver with a small amethyst set in it. "I don't know how it happened, but I can guess who this is for," Lloyd had told him when he gave him the box.

"Good luck," Cécile had told him, winking.

And now, with shaking hands he pulled the ring out its box and into Euphy's outstretched hand, and then he watched as she, with trembling hands, slid it onto her finger. Suzaku stood up, and Euphy tackled him a tight hug that he gladly returned.

"This is a promise that we'll meet again, Euphy," Suzaku said, "whether here in Japan, or in China, or… or in the next life… I don't care."

"Then I'll wait for you," Euphy said, "I'll wait, Suzaku Kururugi. Please, don't get hurt. Come home to me."

"I will," Suzaku said. They released each other, and Suzaku reached back into his cloak and pulled out a small book of Japanese poetry, with English translation. "I-I'm sorry that I don't have much for you to read," he said.

She took it anyways and opened the front. At the front all he had written, "to the most wonderful woman in the world". She sighed, sounding very happy, closed her eyes and held the book close to her chest. "Thank you, Suzaku," Euphy said. She stepped forward and said, "I-I don't have much I can give you…" She put her arms around Suzaku and said, "but I can give you this…"

They shared a kiss, and then Suzaku broke away. "Go, Euphy," Suzaku said. "See you soon, I hope."

Euphy nodded and left. Suzaku watched her leave, then pulled out his phone. "Lloyd," he said, "it's me. There's a favor I need to ask…"

With his goodbye to Euphy done and his call to Lloyd through, that left Kallen herself. Suzaku came up with the plan to get Kallen out by himself. He swept into the interrogation cells holding a wooden case. The guards took one look at it and the somber expression on Suzaku's face and quickly bowed out. Once the doors were out, Suzaku switched off the cameras and walked into Kallen's chamber.

Nunnally was talking to Kallen about Ashford and Lelouch. Suzaku barely comprehended what the conversation was about, though, as he slipped the case into his cloak. "Excuse me, Viceroy Nunnally," Suzaku said, glancing at Kallen, "I need to borrow prisoner 108."

Nunnally nodded and was pushed away by Lohmeyer. Once they were gone, Suzaku stepped up to Kallen's cage and let himself in. He strapped Kallen into her chair, as when he usually saw her, and her scowl turned into a look of panic when Suzaku pulled out his case and fixed his glare on her.

"Suzaku! That's not-" she said, and Suzaku flipped it open to show a syringe and several vials of Refrain. "Ev-even if you drug me, I don't know where-"

"In twenty minutes, the power is going to go out," Suzaku said quietly, and he grabbed the corner of the panel the Refrain was set in and swung it open to show a gun. "I will 'accidentally' leave your cell unlocked. You will take this gun and use it to overpower a guard. Steal their uniform and make your way to Rutger's Furniture, three blocks away. Someone familiar to you will take you and three Britannians to safety."

Kallen looked up at Suzaku, wide-eyed. "Why are you doing this?" Kallen said.

"The empire is trying to murder my fiancée," Suzaku replied. "I made a deal with Zero. Your freedom was one of the terms of the deal."

"Fiancée?" Kallen whispered.

"Now, don't breathe a word of my treachery to anyone," Suzaku said, "understood?"

Kallen nodded. Suzaku flipped the Refrain panel back and took out a syringe out. He made a show of loading it. "W-what are you doing?" Kallen said.

"Gino has a soft spot for you. I made a show of grabbing Refrain earlier from my supplies. When he sees your camera is out and I dismissed the guard, he'll rush in, providing me with an alibi," Suzaku replied. "And then-"

The door slid open. "Suzaku!" Gino said, running in, "what're you-" Suzaku fixed his gaze on Gino and then turned towards Kallen and began moving the syringe toward her.

"This is the final chance, Kallen," Suzaku said. "I hate to do this to a friend, but you  _will_ tell me where Zero is and who he is."

"No, Suzaku! This isn't you!" Kallen screamed. She was quite the actor. Made sense, since she'd hoodwinked the whole school for years.

Gino ran up to the door, but Suzaku turned and jammed it. So Gino began banging on the door. "Suzaku, stop! We have strict orders from the Viceroy!" Gino shouted, "that's enough to kill her! What are you doing?"

"I'm doing what I need to do to protect the world," Suzaku replied emotionlessly. He moved his syringe toward Kallen and watched as Kallen tried to move away – push back against her chair.

"Suzaku!? Is this what Princess Euphemia would do!?" Kallen shouted.

Suzaku froze. Even though he'd had no plans on actually injecting Kallen, it was still a metaphorical slap. He had done so many awful things her name – this was just the latest in a long line. Like betraying all of his friends for her.

"It's not!" Gino said desperately. He reared up and kicked the door. "Suzaku, put that syringe down, now! O-or I'll tell-"

Suzaku dropped the syringe, and watched it shatter on the floor. He kicked the box aside, and then stormed behind Kallen's chair. He undid her restraints and fixed a glare on Gino. "Is this what you want?" Suzaku said, "fine." He turned to Kallen, who was rubbing her wrists and focusing a glare on him, and said, "Gino plead your freedom for today."

Kallen responded by slapping him. "You're nothing like what you used to be," Kallen spat. "I hope you're proud of yourself."

Suzaku drew himself up to his full height, but Kallen kept her glare on him. Then, he turned and left her cell, slamming the door – and leaving it unlocked. "Let's go," Suzaku said to Gino, before the latter could notice what had happened.

They left the prison area. "I can't believe you'd act so extreme," Gino said, "is this related to when you were flying around Tokyo a few days ago?"

"I don't know," Suzaku replied. "I'm just… angry."

"Why?"

"I don't know, Gino," Suzaku said brusquely. "Now leave me alone."

"But-"

The building shuddered and the power went out. "Terrorists?" Gino sputtered, "what-"

"Go check the power! I'll go protect the viceroy, this may be a Black Knight attack!" Suzaku said. He watched Gino run off and then looked back towards the detention cell. "Good luck, Kallen," he whispered.

* * *

Suzaku was true to his word. Not only did Kallen get a fully-loaded pistol, but the door was unlocked, and her restraints undone. It wasn't hard for her to overpower the sole guard that'd come in and steal her uniform, leaving behind the tight, restrictive, and frankly ugly dress the Britannians had shoved her into.

She ran through the base. She wasn't familiar with its structure at all, but in the chaos, no one was questioning a lone guard running through. Kallen emerged outside to find herself by the power generators. She saw a familiar shock of blond hair – Gino Weinberg. He was alone, looking over a burning power substation. She needed a way to get out of this fortress, and he would be her ticket.

She ran up to him. "Listen to me and no one gets hurt," Kallen said, pressing her gun to the back of his head.

Gino glanced behind him. "Hey, Kallen," he said, "what're you doing out?"

"Power took out my door," Kallen said, "and your guards suck."

"Well, I can just call for backup," Gino said.

"And you'll die for it. Am I worth that?" Kallen said.

Gino swallowed.

She glanced up slightly to see that something was emerging out of the flames. "The saboteur!" Gino said. "They might be dangerous! Kallen, you should-"

And then he shut up when the figure emerged from the blaze: a figure in a fire-retardant suit moving slowly and deliberately, a figure larger than even Gino. "Kallen Kozuki," the figure said, "my master has sent me to aid in your rescue." The figure looked at Gino. "I don't think he has any need for this man, though."

Gino squeaked and tried to back away. "I-I'm a Knight of the Round! I'll fight to the death if necessary!" Gino said.

"I'm not going to let you die, Gino," Kallen said, rolling her eyes. "You shouldn't've come out here alone."

"Suzaku sent me to check on this!" Gino said. Then he glanced up at Kallen and said, "wait, Suzaku should've locked your door." He arched an eyebrow and said, "Suzaku didn't help you escape, did he?"

Kallen frowned. Damn. Now they had to do something about him, but she didn't really want to kill him. "Either I shoot you now, or you come with me," Kallen said. She looked at the figure and said, "do you have a way out?"

"We blasted a hole in the wall. Soldiers will go and investigate that. In the meantime, we can take knightmares out," the figure said. He took off his helmet and Kallen recoiled in shock. It was Jeremiah Gottwald, but a cyborg now. "Now, Weinburg," Jeremiah said, "where is the Guren?"

"It's in the knightmare bay," Gino said. "But there's probably guards-"

"Then I'll go clear that out," Jeremiah said.

Kallen, with Gino bound and at gunpoint, followed Jeremiah through the mostly-empty fortress. Most of the guards had been called somewhere. Anya was nowhere to be seen. Suzaku was likely with Nunnally. Even the knightmare bay was empty, save for Lloyd and Cécile.

"Oh, is that Jeremiah Gottwald?" Lloyd said, "Sir Weinberg – and Kallen Kozuki! Staging an escape, eh?"

"We already got word from Suzaku," Cécile said, "that there might have been an escapee."

"He told us not to risk ourselves," Lloyd said, winking and holding out the Guren's key. Kallen kept her gun trained on Gino while Jeremiah took the Guren's key. Then Jeremiah turned to Gino.

"Give me the Tristan's key and code," Jeremiah said.

"People are going to think I'm a traitor if I do that!" Gino said, "and I might be many things, but I'm not a coward!"

"Despite all evidence to the contrary?" Kallen said, "listen, Gino. Come with us, and you get a new life. Stay here, we shoot you. Or worse – leave you alive."

"How is that worse?" Gino said.

Kallen smirked, leaned forward, and whispered into Gino's ear, "your kicks broke the door. You tried to save a terrorist and as a result, she escaped. And I'm sure that Suzaku will back that up – and Nunnally will back him."

Jeremiah added, "don't forget – either I get the Tristan, or we blow it up."

Gino paled and looked between Kallen and Jeremiah. Then he sighed, took out his key, and gave it to Jeremiah. "The code is VX-556171561," Gino said, "I'll go along."

"Good," Jeremiah said. He grabbed Gino by the collar and said, "now we're going to make it look like you got killed fighting the escapee. Come on."

"Huh?" Gino said as Jeremiah dragged him off towards the Tristan, "you're not going to hurt the Tristan, are you? Are you?"

While Jeremiah and Gino got in the Tristan, Kallen looked at the Guren. It looked… souped up. "I, uh, tinkered a little with it," Lloyd said.

"Are you going to do nothing to stop me?" Kallen said.

"We heard from Suzaku what was  _actually_ up," Cécile said. "And we heard the recording."

"Recording?" Kallen said.

"I'm sure the defectors can explain," Lloyd said. "But officially, we simply don't want to get hurt." He put his hands up, as did Cécile. "So don't shoot."

Kallen smiled. "I won't," she said, "thanks for the modifications. They'd better not make the Guren worse."

"Oh, if anything Rakshata will just want to strangle me for tampering with her baby," Lloyd said. He giggled and said, "I guess that makes us quite the same."

Kallen shook her head and got in the Guren. It charged up, displaying both its normal USJ display plus a Britannian display, along with the designation Guren SEITEN. Then she looked up and saw the knightmare bay door opening. She glanced over at Lloyd and Cécile, the latter of which was raising the doors for them. "We'll signal the alarm now!" Cécile called, "please help Suzaku!"

Kallen prepared to blast off and rocketed out of the bay as the doors opened and the alarms began ringing. The Tristan followed seconds later, angling for her – but she knew the pilot was Jeremiah, not Gino. She feigned giving and taking hits several times, and then pressed a button she didn't know – and took flight at an incredibly fast speed. "What did they  _do_ to my robot!?" Kallen said as she fought to get the Guren under control. After a few seconds, she bolted past the Tristan, leaving a long scratch on it. She got a radio signal – Lelouch.

"Kallen," he said, "excellent. I see you've picked up a straggler."

"That's Jeremiah, with a prisoner on board," Kallen said.

"So he says," Lelouch replied. "The extraction point is very close to here. There is a warehouse under my control as well. Hit the Tristan into it, and then land the Guren at the point I specify. Then make your way to the extraction point."

"Understood."

She followed Lelouch's plan perfectly, blasting the Tristan into a warehouse that began detonating. She could tell that most of the explosions were superficial ones, though – in all likelihood, Lelouch's workers would grab the Tristan and pull it away. The landing point of the Guren was inside of the warehouse, so she made it look like she'd gone out of control before landing on what turned out to be a massive elevator. She got out and watched as the Tristan and the Guren were brought into the depths of the city. Then she saw Jeremiah, still holding onto Gino.

"You're not going to do anything to it, are you?" Gino sputtered.

Jeremiah laughed. "I'm sure that my lord has a good reason for it," Jeremiah said. He threw Gino over to Kallen. "Zero says to take him with you, Kallen." He walked over to the elevator and jumped down next to the Tristan, then saluted Kallen as he slipped out of view.

"Understood," Kallen said, though Jeremiah was gone now and Gino was just staggering off of the floor. Kallen tore a strip of cloth off her shirt and gagged him. "C'mon, Weinberg."

Kallen ducked into a warehouse office and searched through the clothes in there. She found two sets of warehouse clothes, and two large raincoats. "Alright, Weinberg," Kallen said, turning to look at an agitated-looking Gino, "we need disguises. It's on fire out there, so we're going to change you out of your stupid clothes, got it?"

Gino nodded. Kallen took off Gino's hand bindings and leveled her gun at him while Gino changed into the warehouse clothes she directed. He seemed rather embarrassed to be changing in front of her. He was far  _more_ embarrassed, therefore, when Kallen put his bindings back on, put her gun right in front of her, and began changing in front of him. "You're welcome for the free show," Kallen said as she pulled the clothes on, "I wish I had another choice."

She finished getting her clothes on, threw the rain jacket around Gino and tied it in the front, then put her own on. She glanced over at Gino, frowned, pulled his jacket front up, and then smirked at him. "For your own sake, don't make a scene," Kallen said. Then she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. Gino turned bright red, and Kallen moved behind him and put her gun against his back. "That's for saving me from Suzaku, by the way."

Gino said something that was muffled.

"Tell me later, Gino," Kallen said.

She marched him away from the warehouse and down the street. Considering the huge plumes of black smoke emitting from headquarters and the warehouse, no one was paying attention to two warehouse workers, one of whom, clearly a woman, which was pressed up against her man. Kallen wondered if Gino was enjoying the closeness, bound and gagged as he was.

They reached Rutger's Furniture, whose shopkeeper was nowhere in sight and three people were already waiting: a black man wearing sunglasses, a blonde white woman also wearing sunglasses and looking at her watch, and a third figure underneath a rain jacket. Considering the overcast skies, they didn't look too out-of-place beyond the sunglasses. Emergency crews and police were rushing past. Kallen looked around. Where was the familiar face Lelouch had mentioned?

"Kallen," the figure said, looking up. Kallen got her first look at her – purple eyes, light pink bangs, glasses on an innocent-looking face – and almost switched her gun from Gino to her.

"Princess massacre," Kallen said quietly.

Euphemia opened her mouth to say something but didn't get the chance as a truck pulled up. It had Ashford Academy's logo on the side. The window rolled down, and Lelouch looked out. "This is the place," Lelouch said, and he looked back inside. "Right, Shirley?" he said.

The door on the other side opened, then shut, then Shirley came around the other side of the car. She pushed the back of the truck open. "Hey, workers!" Shirley said cheerfully, "can you help us, please?"

Kallen glanced over at Lelouch, who had gotten out of the truck too. He nodded, almost imperceptibly, at Kallen. She looked from him to Shirley and back again, then pushed Gino up towards him. She hated to do this to him, but by the time Gino was in front of Lelouch his geass'd eye was visible. Gino started up into it, apparently in fright. "You'll help us out for the next hour or so, right?" Lelouch said, and Gino went rigid and nodded. Kallen slipped her hands into his jacket and undid his gag.

"Let's go," Kallen said.

"Of course!" Gino sent enthusiastically.

Inside, the shop owner was polishing a counter, his eyes glazed over. Kallen undid Gino's restraints and then the two were directed by Shirley in picking up some tables. As they were loaded into the van, Euphemia and the two other defectors crawled in as well. "We need help unloading too," Shirley said with a smile, and Gino saluted and said, "yes, ma'am!"

Kallen and Gino loaded into the back and Gino slammed the door shut. The truck roared to life, and Kallen glanced through the window to the front to see that Lelouch was now looking through a little book while Shirley looked out into traffic. Kallen didn't know she knew how to drive a truck, but apparently, she did.

Lelouch put his book down, took out his phone, and made a call. It was very quiet – Kallen couldn't hear it. So she turned her attention back to the defectors. Euphemia had taken her cloak hood down and was looking at the floor of the truck with downcast eyes. Kallen had a million questions – foremost of them all, what was she doing  _alive_? Hadn't Lelouch killed her for attacking the Japanese? And further, what was she-

_They're trying to kill my fiancée._

"So, you're getting married to Suzaku," Kallen said, settling in across from Euphemia. She nodded. "Aren't you kind of young for that?"

"It's not really a solid date," Euphemia replied. She was twisting a silver ring on her ring finger.

"I'm surprised he'd do that," Kallen said. "Marry a murderer."

Euphemia cringed. "Please don't remind me of that," she said.

"Why shouldn't I?" Kallen demanded, "do you know how many good people-"

The window to the back opened. "Kallen, don't blame her," Lelouch said. "That was Zero."

That was – her eyes widened. Zero? She looked from Euphemia to Lelouch, who was looking at her impassively. Then he closed the window. Zero… that meant geass.

At this, Kallen sunk against the side of the truck and grabbed her head. It hadn't occurred to her that Lelouch himself was behind the massacre, that he would be so cruel as to commit genocide against her own people for his own pursuit of power. She glanced over at the cabin. One bullet, and he would pay for his sins…

"He didn't mean to," Euphemia said.

Kallen looked at her. "What do you mean?" she said.

"Zero was going to work with me," Euphemia said, "but… something went wrong. The geass activated when it shouldn't and- and-" She buried her face in her hands. "I'm sorry, Kallen, we're both sorry, for everything that happened, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…"

She kept repeating this and Kallen's feelings of hatred for Euphemia evaporated. She looked back at the window, and saw Lelouch glancing into the back, a look of the utmost regret on his face. He looked away when Kallen caught his eye. "Please, Princess Euphemia," Kallen said, reaching out and touching Euphemia's shoulder, "please stop. You sound heartbroken."

Euphemia was hugging herself now, and she slowly nodded. "It's just… I haven't talked to anyone Japanese besides Suzaku until now," Euphemia said. "I'm not normally like this, but…" She wiped her eyes with her sleeve.

"And despite that, you'd protect Zero?" Kallen said.

"If he'd meant to transform me, I wouldn't," Euphemia replied softly. "But he didn't, so I forgive him for it."

The truck slid to a stop. Kallen looked through the window and saw that they were at a harbor near Ashford. Lelouch tapped on the glass and gestured outside. Kallen nodded and left the trunk. Lelouch had already stepped out. "So," Kallen said, "you dragged Shirley into all this?"

"She chose to join us," Lelouch replied. "I don't want her in danger, but she's at least a good enough driver and wouldn't raise too many questions."

Kallen crossed her arms and said, "and the VIP in there is Princess Euphemia. Suzaku's fiancée."

Lelouch nodded. "My sister," Lelouch said, glancing at the truck. Once again, a distinct look of regret filled his face, but it was gone a second later. "Keep her safe, Kallen. But don't let the crew of the submarine find out who she is. I gave my word to Suzaku, and this time I'll keep it."

"Lelouch, did you mean to kill the Japanese?" Kallen said, "and ruin the SAZ for everyone?"

Lelouch looked away. "At first, I was going to make her shoot me," Lelouch said, "nonlethally. This would spark a rebellion against Britannia and let me make my independent Japan. But when I heard her plan for the SAZ, I surrendered."

"You what?" Kallen said, "you don't mean-"

"I was going to do everything in my power to make her dream a reality," Lelouch said. "She was the savior of Japan, not me. She was the one who'd come up with a way to make everyone happy. But then…" He looked back at Kallen and said, "then she asked me how I was going to make her shoot me. And when I gave an example of the worst possible thing I could ask her to do, the thing most unlike her… geass activated." He reached into his coat and pulled out a handgun, then flipped it around and held it out to Kallen. "That's the honest truth, Kallen," Lelouch said, "and if you have any doubts about that… shoot me now."

Kallen took the handgun from Lelouch and looked at him in the eyes. She  _didn't_ know if he was telling the truth, and she had no way of knowing. But his eyes had been full of pain and regret. He seemed to honestly feel bad. On the other hand, feeling bad wouldn't avenge the Japanese. On the other, other hand, the Japanese still needed Zero…

She glanced up to see Shirley watching them from the truck window. She was pale and biting her lip. Kallen bet that Lelouch had told her not to interfere. "How can I shoot you in front of your girlfriend?" Kallen said, shaking her head and giving the gun back to Lelouch.

"Then we'll walk away, and you can execute me," Lelouch said. "There's already a contingency plan. CC will take over. Zero of the massacre will be dead, but a new Zero will still live."

"I'm not going to kill you, Lelouch," Kallen said. "I'll believe that you didn't mean for the massacre, just like I don't believe that Euphemia did either. And you got me out of here." Lelouch put his gun away, and Kallen said, "that being said, I expect you to never treat Japan like a simple pawn. If you truly feel bad about what you did, if you truly wish to make amends-"

"Why do you think I exiled myself and the Black Knights?" Lelouch said. "It wasn't just to protect Nunnally. It was to make sure the world that I almost helped make would be a real one. That Euphy's dream wouldn't die with her."

"What happens now?" Kallen said.

"I expect that Princess Euphemia will stay officially dead, and that the woman in there will be someone reborn," Lelouch said. "The wife of the future knight of one, perhaps. There will always be rumors, but…" He shook his head and said, "the other option is that, when Zero has outlived his usefulness, he reveals his treachery and dies in a final act of evil. The people will know that Euphemia was innocent."

"Won't the world that you worked so hard to make fall apart then?" Kallen said.

"Honestly," Lelouch said, turning to look over at the ocean, "at this point, I don't think I care about that. It's good to see you free, Kallen." A conning tower breached the water, and he nodded to it. "That's your ride. You're in command now. Take Gino with you."

Kallen opened the back door and Euphemia, with her hood up, her two friends, and Gino got out. Euphemia and the two friends met up with people by the submarine while Kallen and Gino helped Lelouch and Shirley take tables out for some upcoming event. "Good luck, Kallen," Shirley said, winking at her, "you'll do great."

"We'll get the Guren and the Tristan to you at some point," Lelouch said. He nodded at Gino and said, "keep him company, will you? Maybe we can use him as leverage at some point."

"Of course," Kallen said. She turned her back on them, grabbed Gino's arm, and pulled him over to the submarine. She boarded, told the captain Zero had put her in charge, and then closed the hatch and sunk into the depths of the submarine. It was good to be free again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can see, I have a soft spot for Kallen/Gino


	3. Chapter 3

Euphy was given a tiny private quarter on the submarine, the  _Ishihara_. She didn't miss the irony that her salvation was inside a ship named after one of her victims. She had a cot and a vacuum toilet and that was it, but it was still nicer than the prison in Pendragon or Tokyo. She felt considerably freer already.

She hadn't expected to breakdown in the back of the truck, but it had been a hard morning. Suzaku had been one of her only human connections, and to kiss him goodbye for possibly the last time in her life was gut-wrenching. At this point, her only hope was that Lelouch would win, fast, so that she could reunite.

But she didn't know what Lelouch was planning. She was nothing more than a pawn, and she didn't know if Suzaku had realized yet that as long as Zero had her, Zero controlled him. It was now going to be impossible for Suzaku to ever go against the Black Knights again, and it was all her fault. Suzaku made nothing bad decisions for her.

But it made her love him all the more for it. She sat down on her cot, curled up against the hull, and squeezed her sole pillow, enough so that she could see the engagement ring glittering on her finger. "Suzaku, you stupid, wonderful boy," Euphy said, "at least you've got Arthur for company."

The door to her quarters opened, and in stepped Kallen. Euphy had only met her a handful of times, and she didn't blame her for her reaction. "Gino's agreed to stand guard," Kallen said, "I don't trust any of the Black Knights around you for now."

"Thank you, Kallen," Euphy said.

Kallen sat on top of the toilet seat cover. "So, tell me about Suzaku," Kallen said, "what do you see in him? He just seems angry all the time."

"Suzaku's not who he used to be," Euphy said. "He… he's always been unsure of himself, but there was always a spark of kindness and goodness in him. When he talked about changing the world, he honestly meant it."

"And now?" Kallen said.

"Now he… now he just wants revenge," Euphy said. She squeezed her pillow and said, "the good is still in him, I know it is! But he…"

"Was he protecting you for the last year?" Kallen said.

Euphy nodded.

"He wasn't… violent, was he?" Kallen said.

Euphy shook her head. "I… I tried to kill him many times, and one time he almost killed me, but… but after that I didn't see him for a long time," Euphy said. "And I know, from talking to him… he's terrified of ever seeing me as just something to hit, something that's a stress relief. I'm one of the few people left he cares about, so…"

Kallen furrowed her brow. "Is that the only reason? That he doesn't want to hit you and he's got some innate goodness or something?" she said.

"No!" Euphy cried, "I mean- his innate goodness, yes, the hitting thing, no, that only happened twice."

"Euphemia-"

"He's not abusive, in any way!" Euphy said. She sighed and said, "Suzaku's a very gentle man. We say that we're engaged, but, to tell the truth… this might've been the last day I see him."

"What?" Kallen said, "you don't mean-"

"I might live in exile wherever Zero sends me the rest of my life," Euphy said, "I might never reunite with Suzaku. But he cares more about me than about himself. If he only cared about himself, he wouldn't agree to a plan that means he might never see me again."

At this, Kallen's expression softened. "You had me concerned," Kallen said. "What happened the second time, by the way?"

"He snapped at me, slapped me when I was in my genocidal state… and then he ran away. When he came back to apologize, even though I didn't fully understand it in that state… he cried, and I cried too," Euphy said.

"I'm so sorry," Kallen said.

"Don't apologize. This is between us," Euphy said. She looked over at Kallen and said, "I guess I haven't really given an answer."

"I can see that you care about Suzaku, though I might never understand why," Kallen said.

Euphy smiled slightly. "What about you, Kallen? Is there anyone you love?"

Kallen looked down. "I can't say that I do anymore," Kallen said. "I thought I loved Zero. I think my loyalty began to turn into a worship of him that became feelings for him. But then I saw the frantic creature arguing with Suzaku, and I ran away…"

"I take it you weren't a big fan of Lelouch," Euphy said.

Kallen bit her lip. "I don't know," Kallen said. "Even if I  _had_ feelings for Lelouch, I'd feel bad stepping in front of Shirley. That poor girl has had her heart set on him for years, and I don't want to interfere. And I can tell that Lelouch doesn't care. He tried to kiss me once, in the depths of despair, after I caught him with Refrain…" She shook her head and said, "I guess, right now, I don't love anyone. Maybe Zero, once, but with what I know about him now… it'd take time. Especially now that I know about the truth of the massacre."

"Please forgive him," Euphy pleaded, "he didn't want this to happen. He's trying to change."

Kallen nodded. "I know," she said, and she stood up. She glanced at the door and smirked. Gino was glancing in the porthole. "I'll go get you some curtains," Kallen said. Gino ducked away, and Kallen thumbed at the door. "I'll tell you this, though, Euphemia," Kallen said, "Gino over there is a lot more handsome than Lelouch  _or_ Suzaku."

They heard a thump against the other side of the door. Kallen opened the hatch and looked down at Gino. "Uh, that sounded pretty nice towards me!" Gino said. "Did you mean it, Kallen? Maybe mean it enough to get me out of here?"

"We get to share quarters, what more can you ask?" Kallen said dismissively.

"That's only so you can keep an eye on me!" Gino said as Kallen walked away. Euphy smiled as she heard their argument recede into the hallway: "don't sell yourself short, Weinberg." "Come on, Kallen, you're still half-Britannian! Have some pride for the homeland?" "I'm  _Japanese_ , and I'm not about to be a sniveling coward fighting against Japan!" And so on.

The trip over to China took about a day. Euphy spent it in her room, reading that little book of Japanese poetry Suzaku had given her before kissing her goodbye. Both Max and Julie popped in to see how she was doing, and otherwise Gino stood guard. He had no gun and couldn't leave the hallway, but in the evening (Euphy was pretty sure it was evening) Kallen came by with a small dinner for the three of them. Euphy spent it mostly quiet, reading her poetry, and occasionally remarking on Gino and Kallen's low-key flirting.

Upon arrival in China, Kallen gave her a cloak to wear and she was spirited out of the  _Ishihara_. It churned her heart to see so many Japanese, but it was no longer  _just_ Japanese: there were also Chinese, Koreans, Indians, Filipinos, Vietnamese, Britannians, and lots of other kinds of people. She saw no familiar faces, but that was to be expected as she, the doctors, and Gino (the only one outfitted as an actual prisoner) were escorted by Kallen towards the central tower. Kallen deposited Euphy and the doctors in an office and then lead Gino away.

They waited in the office for about ten minutes before a green-haired girl who looked vaguely familiar to Euphy appeared. "Zero told me that you three would be arriving today," the woman said. She held out her hand and said, "I'm CC."

"Zero's famous mistress, eh?" Max said, shaking her hand.

CC shook her head. "I'm no mistress. It's my understanding, actually, that he's picked one rather recently," she added, smiling slightly, "hopefully he doesn't mind my teasing."

"I'm sure he won't," Julie said, also shaking CC's hand. Finally, Euphy shook her hand. "Miss CC, are you one of the leaders of the Black Knights?"

"I am indeed," CC said. "Now, I understand you two have defected and wish to work for the Black Knights."

"Yes," Max said. "We're excellent doctors. Ask Princess Euphemia here."

CC glanced over at Euphy, then back at Max. "You saved her life from what should've been a fatal bullet," CC said, "impressive." She walked over to the central desk and picked up a board. "Alright. Dr. Eberhardt and Dr. Westinghouse, please report to the medical dock. If you need help, I'll lead you there." She glanced at Euphy and said, "Zero wishes to speak to you directly. He wants to show you something. He'll arrive in about an hour. Until then, make yourself at home, and stay in here." CC left with the doctors, locking the door on the way out.

Euphy walked over to the window. The shutters kept the room in a state of semi-permanent darkness. She slid one of the shutters open and looked out towards the ocean, out towards Japan, where Suzaku and Lelouch and Nunnally were. Storm clouds were gathering. Hopefully they weren't an omen.

She went over to the desk and looked over the papers. One of them caught her eye – report on the whereabouts of Cornelia li Britannnia. Not much was in the file. Euphy had always assumed that Cornelia was fine, and Suzaku had said she'd taken a leave of absence for some reason. According to this, the last place Cornelia had been seen was in Europe. That was three months ago.

Euphy looked over at the TV and switched it on. She was startled to see Nunnally, flanked by a blank-faced Suzaku and Anya. "Unfortunately, Sir Weinberg went missing in action fighting Kallen Kozuki," Nunnally said. "We hope that he may be found, but his knightmare crashed into a warehouse filled with explosives. Regardless, our rescue teams are searching in the hopes that he found a way to the lower levels…"

The news switched over to a blonde woman she had seen in some of Suzaku's pictures over a year ago. She began talking about the weather. If Euphy had to guess, Nunnally's broadcast was an emergency broadcast that she had caught the tail end of.

She watched random TV shows for the next hour. At the end of it, the door slid open, and Lelouch walked in, dressed as Zero. "Hi, Lelouch. Did you bring anyone with you from Japan?" Euphy said.

Lelouch took off his helmet and nodded. "I've brought Rolo and Jeremiah. So the next phase of my plan can begin," Lelouch said. "Placing CC back in charge of the Geass Directorate."

Euphy nodded, even though she had no idea who the Geass Directorate was. "Anyone else?" Euphy said.

Lelouch deposited his helmet on his desk and walked over to the window. "Viletta's disappeared recently, so I decided to make my break with Ashford. It won't be long before Suzaku finds out that I'm Zero again anyways. Better to be safe from him. Shirley insisted she come along as well, so she's going to be learning communications."

"Why that?" Euphy said.

"Because then she can patch me through to CC after CC takes over the Geass Order," Lelouch said. "For  _those_ communications, I need someone I can trust absolutely, and Shirley's dedication to me means that I don't need to worry about her."

"Suzaku said that she's kind of clumsy," Euphy said.

"She is. She'll learn not to be," Lelouch said flatly.

Euphy sighed. "You should be nicer to her, Lelouch," Euphy said, "she wants the best for you."

"I know," Lelouch said. "I've decided that, if she wants to keep putting herself in danger for me, it's best to keep her close in a danger-free situation." He pulled his phone out and said, "speaking of…"

He dialed a number and waited. Then he said, "Suzaku Kururugi. You more than upheld your end of the bargain. I didn't expect to get Gino Weinberg and the Tristan as part of this."

Euphy moved over next to Lelouch. He smiled a little and let her press her ear against his phone. "-wasn't part of the plan, Zero," Suzaku was saying. He sounded angry.

"Regardless," Lelouch said, "it happened. Perhaps I should thank Kallen for her quick thinking."

"Listen, Zero, we had a deal, and that wasn't part of it," Suzaku said.

"I don't think you're thinking, Sir Kururugi," Lelouch said. He smiled and said, "and I certainly fulfilled my part of this. There's someone who wants to talk to you."

He handed the phone to Euphy. She hesitated for a second, and then said, "Suzaku?"

"Euphy?" Suzaku said, instantly sounding happier, "are you ok?"

"Yeah," Euphy said.

"The Black Knights haven't done anything to you, have they?" Suzaku said.

"No, Zero has been a gentleman, and Kallen's gone out of her way to keep me safe," Euphy said.

"Do you know what they're going to do now?" Suzaku said, "where you're going to be?"

"I don't know. I'm sure Zero will tell me soon," Euphy said.

"Alright," Suzaku said. "This… this won't be the last time we talk, will it?"

Euphy looked at Lelouch. "I'll get to talk to him again, right?" Euphy said to Lelouch.

Lelouch nodded. "What did Zero say?" Suzaku said.

"He says yes," Euphy said. "Suzaku, I hope I can see you again soon."

"I hope so too," Suzaku said.

"I love you," Euphy said.

"I love you too," Suzaku replied.

Euphy handed the phone back to Lelouch, feeling a general sense of warmth and happiness from talking to Suzaku. "Young love," Lelouch said, putting the phone on speaker-phone, "so inspiring, Sir Kururugi."

"I'm sure you wouldn't know love if it tried to sleep with you, Zero," Suzaku said.

Lelouch started laughing. "Such a crude thing to say! What things do you have in mind to do with the princess, Kururugi?" Lelouch said.

Euphy fixed a glare on Lelouch and smacked him in the arm. "Shut up," Suzaku said, "before I reveal-"

"Before you reveal what? I own you now, Kururugi," Lelouch said.

"What?"

"I have Euphemia now. Your beloved Euphemia, who you just betrayed Britannia for."

"You promised you wouldn't hurt her!" Suzaku snarled.

"And I won't, so long as you keep up your end of the bargain," Lelouch said silkily.

"There wasn't anything in the agreement about things like giving you Gino!" Suzaku said.

"I have altered the terms of the agreement. Pray I do not alter them further," Lelouch said.

Suzaku was quiet for a second. "Star Wars?" he finally said.

"Tell me, Sir Kururugi," Lelouch said, pressing on completely unperturbed, "what would happen if you did reveal that Weinberg was still alive, and taken by Kozuki? All I would do is reveal that you released Kozuki. Now, telling the world that Euphemia is alive could be dangerous, so I won't necessarily do  _that_ , but I'm sure that Prince Schneizel would know right away that you have  _also_  betrayed him, not just the doctors. And your entire standing – your everything, including your vision of a better world – would be gone in a second."

"Then why don't you do that now?" Suzaku said.

"Because without anything left, you'd probably barge in here with the Lancelot to try and murder me," Lelouch said. "I have faith that you'll join me, Kururugi. I have faith that you'll come to your senses, see that I am not the man who tried to murder Euphemia, but that I share her vision. And then you'll join your beloved princess, your first and highest duty, and together we three will reshape the world."

"Your methods are wrong," Suzaku said.

"Are they?" Lelouch said, "then tell me, Kururugi – where does treachery belong? What is the right way – listening to your betters? Stepping aside and letting Euphemia die? Tell me, if the Emperor himself was behind the attempt on Euphemia's life – what would you do?"

Suzaku didn't answer for thirty seconds. Finally, he said, "I would stop her assassins," Suzaku said. "I would kill the emperor, if necessary."

"Your loyalty is not to the Holy Britannian Empire, but to Euphemia li Britannia," Lelouch said. "And when you fully realize that, you will join her here. That, I predict."

Suzaku said nothing. Lelouch looked over at Euphy, who was looking between Lelouch and the phone. "Suzaku," Euphy said, picking up the phone again, "please, don't endanger yourself for me!"

"I am your servant, my lady," Suzaku replied. He was silent for a bit longer then said, "Zero, are you Lelouch? I'm told he's not at the school right now."

Lelouch smiled. "I'll leave you to find that out," Lelouch said. "But I reiterate what I said." He picked up his phone and said, "Princess Euphemia will live on this island headquarters where I live. When you wish to see her, contact her. When she wishes to see you, she will contact you. Arrange for a meeting time. I will send a fast submarine for you to pick you up – alone, with no attempts at subterfuge or tracking – from Japan and you can spend as much time as you want together, so long as Viceroy Nunnally isn't endangered by your absence."

"How can you trust me to come to your island?" Suzaku said.

"Because I own you now, Suzaku Kururugi," Lelouch said. "And because you know that Euphemia is safer here than in Britannia. They want her dead. I do not. It's that simple."

Euphy grabbed the phone from Lelouch. "Suzaku," Euphy said, "when can you come? I want to see you as soon as possible!"

"…I can come in two days," Suzaku said. "Zero, will we meet then?"

"I don't want to take away from your time with Euphemia. You two do whatever you want. We'll provide what you need – food, clothes, birth control, it doesn't matter," Lelouch said. "At the end of the day, or the night as it may be, we'll dispatch you back to Japan. The time may come when we meet again, Kururugi. Good night."

He hung up. " _Birth control?_ " Euphy said, as soon as Lelouch looked at her. She could feel her face – it felt like it was on fire. "L-lelouch, what are you-"

"I was making a point," Lelouch said. He walked over to his desk and said, "we don't have time for unplanned pregnancies or, for that matter, teenaged pregnancies here. Not with everything I still need to do."

Euphy sighed and took a seat in front of his desk. "Putting that aside," she said, "did you mean what you told Suzaku? About us reshaping the world?"

"Since you are, in fact, still alive, and once again sane, I see no reason not to uphold our deal," Lelouch said, taking his seat across from Euphy. "However, circumstances have changed. To be frank, Euphy, you run into things too much without thinking them through."

"I know," Euphy said, "I guess I'm just too enthusiastic sometimes."

"That you are," Lelouch said. He moved his helmet aside and picked up a folder labeled  _Zero Squad_. Then he turned to his computer and began clicking. "But that's a strength of yours. Very few people in the empire have more heart than you. But owing to my mistakes, for now it'll be impossible for you to go out in public as Euphemia li Britannia." He clicked one final time, and a printer behind his desk turned on. He turned in his chair, took what was printed out, and handed it to Euphy.

Her disguise from when she visited the hotel a long time ago stared back at her. At the top "Euphemia Black" was printed, with a listed age of 19 and hometown of San Francisco. "Won't people notice that I have the same name?" Euphy said.

"There was a famous actress about twenty years ago with the name of Euphemia," Lelouch said dismissively. "And there's a whole slew of people named Euphemia that are younger than you too. A few of our Britannians have younger sisters or girlfriends with that name. You'll be fine."

"What about the pink hair and purple eyes?" Euphy said.

"As long as you wear glasses and keep your hair up, people probably won't notice," Lelouch said. "Not many people have actually seen Princess Euphemia in anything beyond official capacity, and the only thing most of the Black Knights will have seen you on is Diethard's broadcasts." He turned back to his computer and said, "and besides, pink hair isn't  _that_ uncommon, and purple eyes, while very rare, are a rather minor thing." He smirked and added, "think of it as refuge in audacity."

"If… if you say so," Euphy said. "In any case, that means I can wander around here on my own?"

"Yes, just don't leave the island or neglect your duties," Lelouch said. "I'll give you time off to be with Suzaku, but the rest of the time I expect you to earn your keep."

"What do you mean?" Euphy said.

"Keep reading," Lelouch replied.

Euphy looked back at her paper. Under  _Skills_ , she had a set of generic-looking skills and, at the bottom,  _knightmare training_. "I guess I know how to pilot," Euphy said, "but I'd rather not kill anyone…"

"Consider it security," Lelouch replied.

Euphy nodded, and looked at  _Known Relationships_ : 'fiancé, Japanese, Suzaku Yasuhiro, Britannian engineering'. There were no others. Then she looked down at  _Assignment_ , and gasped. "Lelouch, are you sure?" Euphy said.

"You start tonight," Lelouch said, standing up. Euphy nodded and looked back down at the paper.  _Zero Squadron_. "Your commanding officer will be Kallen, then me. I'll maintain a separate channel for you to contact me, of course. Your job will be to stick close and not die."

"Understood," Euphy said. "But, Lelouch, can you trust a former Britannian like me?"

"You forget who you're speaking to," Lelouch said. He put his helmet back on and said, "let's go get your uniform. Put your hair up before we go out, though."

"Yes, Lelouch," Euphy said.

"And call me Zero out there," Lelouch added. Euphy nodded.

* * *

Lelouch showed Euphy around her new quarters, a nice little apartment, and then over to the Zero Squadron's headquarters. It was a nice little room, with Kallen (now dressed in a Black Knights uniform) standing over a desk, a look of intense concentration on her face. Maps and screens covered the walls, except for a few doors in the back and a filing cabinet. The rest of the squadron were looking at newspapers, reports, chatting with each other, or even watching a broadcast on TV. They all stood and saluted when Lelouch entered the room. "This is Euphemia Black," Lelouch said, gesturing to her. "She will be one of the new members of this squadron."

Kallen nodded. Lelouch released everyone from their salute and Kallen walked over to a desk and picked up a tablet. "Euphemia Black, Jeremiah Gottwald, and Rolo Lamperouge," Kallen read aloud. She glanced up at Lelouch. "Do you have assignments for them already, sir?"

"Lamperouge and Gottwald are special agents under my direct command, and Gottwald will receive command duties in special circumstances," Lelouch said. "Our next operation entails the 'birthplace' of Lamperouge and the decision to place him under my direct command will make more sense when you see what that entails."

"And Black, sir?" Kallen said, looking over at Euphy.

"Whereas the rest of you are shock troops, Black will be my personal guard for now," Lelouch said. "She has some skill in a knightmare, but she needs extra training."

"What kind?" Kallen said.

Lelouch looked at Euphy. Euphy wished she could see through his helmet to know what expression he was making – but then he looked back over at Kallen. "Discuss that with her. That is her right to pick. Now, I have an operation to plan." He turned around and left the room.

"So," a Japanese man that Euphy didn't recognize said, "your name is Euphemia. Just like-"

"I'll change my name when she changes hers," Euphy said sharply.

Kallen looked down at her file and then over at the man. "It says here that Black is 19, Kinoshita, with a copy of her birth certificate," Kallen said. "The massacre princess would only be 17 now – and no birth certificate." Kallen crossed her arms and said, "plus, that would mean that Zero  _failed_  to kill that butcherer,  _and_ decided to let her into the Black Knights,  _and_ added her to his personal unit as his guard. I don't think Zero is that stupid. Do you?"

Kinoshita shook his head. "I'm sorry, Miss Black," Kinoshita said.

"Don't worry, I get that a lot," Euphy replied. She knew she had to act if she didn't want a backlash, but she was going to do that. Lelouch was trusting in her, and she had to make up for that.

"Still, that must suck," one of the other pilots said, "pink hair, purple eyes, same name?"

Euphy smiled sadly. "I just feel sorry for her," Euphy said, "to snap and start killing the Japanese… I can't imagine why she would do that."

Kallen shook her head. "We may never find out why," Kallen said. She turned her back on Euphy and said, "go look over the knightmares and talk to Rakshata. I'll be back in a few minutes. Kinoshita, help her out, will you?"

"Sure," Kinoshita said.

Kinoshita lead Euphy through a door next to the filing cabinet. It was a bare hallway that, the further they walked down it, the more it smelled like engine oil. "So, why did a Britannian girl decide to join the Black Knights?" Kinoshita said.

"My fiancé is Japanese," Euphy said. She held up her hand so that he could see her ring. "But he lives in Japan. I think he's afraid."

"Did he support the Black Knights before the Black Rebellion?" Kinoshita said.

Euphy shook her head. "He supported Suzaku Kururugi," Euphy said.

"And you?" Kinoshita said.

"I always admired Zero," Euphy replied.

Kinoshita nodded. "He's a very admirable man," Kinoshita said, "though sometimes I wonder if that Zero is the same as one as from a year ago."

Euphy didn't respond. They reached the knightmare bay, where there were dozens of knightmares. There was one open space – probably Kallen's knightmare. "By the way, Black," Kinoshita said, "when you get the chance, can you show me a picture of you and your fiancé?"

"I don't actually have any pictures," Euphy said. "I had to leave Japan with not much."

Kinoshita cocked his head, then he frowned and nodded. "I see," he said, "kicked out for choosing to marry a Japanese, right?"

"Hm?"

"There's a lot of folks like that," Kinoshita said. "People who can't see past skin color or the languages other people speak."

"Yeah," Euphy said. She thought about her own parents – about her father, perennially absent and a tyrant in his own right, and her mother, who had passed away some years ago from a disease – but Euphy had the sense that she would probably be rolling in her grave if she knew about Euphy marrying Suzaku. "But, um, hopefully it won't be too long before you can meet him!" Euphy said.

Kinoshita smiled. "In the day that Japan is free again, I'd love to meet him, Black," Kinoshita said.

"Please, if you don't mind, call me Euphy," Euphy said.

"Pleased to meet you, then, Euphy-san," Kinoshita said, and he bowed to her.

Euphy smiled and bowed herself. "Thank you, Kinoshita-san."

Kinoshita lead her past the rows of knightmares, explaining the finer points of different kinds of weaponry. Euphy, for her part, wanted there to be absolutely no blood and absolutely no killing from her hands if she could help it. "There is one thing you could specialize in, then," Kinoshita said, "knightmare disarmament."

"I take apart the knightmares?" Euphy said.

Kinoshita nodded. "It's harder to do because it takes more pinpoint accuracy," Kinshita said, "you'd be kind of like a sniper, except instead of sniping heads or cockpits, you're sniping legs or arms. It's actually better than you think for us, too, because then the Britannians have to divert extra manpower to rescue downed pilots or salvage their knightmares, and we can take parts and ammunition from the knightmares and guns you destroy."

"I want to do that, then," Euphy said.

Kinoshita nodded. "Let's talk to Rakshata," he said.

Rakshata was an intimidating Indian woman, who made no comment on Euphy's hair or eye color and instead dispatched Kinoshita to go get some blueprints for her. While he was gone, Kallen showed up, and Kallen and Rakshata began interrogating Euphy on what she wanted for her knightmare. Once Kinoshita arrived they were able to lay out a training regimen, while Rakshata made plans for her knightmare design. "It'll be a modified knightmare," Rakshata said, "but Zero wants to make sure that you have defenses on par with his. You must be quite important for him to make such a request."

"Well, Euphy-san is Zero's personal guard now," Kinoshita.

Kallen smirked at hearing this. Euphy frowned but resisted the urge to hit her in the arm. "Even still, quite impressive," Rakshata said. She tapped her cigarette holder against the blueprints and said, "we'll make something wonderful, don't worry."

The rest of the night was spent reorienting Euphy to piloting. Basic movement wasn't hard for her, and even precision movements weren't hard. She faced off against Kallen and a few other members of Zero Squadron, and managed to impress Kallen, the others, and herself, by holding them off using just a shield and her movements while doing her best to protect an empty knightmare representing Zero. "In your actual knightmare, you'll have shields you can extend for projectile blocking," Rakshata said, "but otherwise, I see that you focus on agility."

Euphy bid her new teammates goodnight and headed over to her apartment. She took a nice, warm shower, and settled in to bed to read from her poem collection from Suzaku. She drifted off to sleep, a prayer on her lips for Suzaku's wellbeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't want Euphy to basically be a damsel in distress for the whole story, hence the knightmares. Back to more normal fares next chapter.


	4. Chapter 4

Suzaku earned an actual, official reprimand for his role in Kallen's escape, though not because anyone knew that his actions had been intentional. Lohmeyer had found the shattered Refrain and quickly pieced together that Suzaku had been threatening her with it but was stopped by Gino. She didn't know why the door's lock had failed to engage, however.

Other than that, Suzaku spent his time tending to his responsibilities and worrying about Euphy. Other knights of the round were starting to be transferred to Japan, starting with the knight of one, Bismarck. He was a quiet man who seemed to accept Nunnally's defense of Suzaku and Anya's handling of Kallen's escape and Gino's "death". And he didn't pry into Suzaku's conversations with Euphy – though he always made sure to have the tender parts of their conversations when he was absolutely certain no one was listening.

The only major thing of note immediately after Euphy's escape was a coded message to him from Schneizel. Loathe as Suzaku was to do anything for the man, he knew he had to keep up appearances. The message itself was simple: install a program into HQ's security. "Consider this a favor for me - K," the message ended with.

Suzaku had no choice but to do it. He waited for security to change their shift, marched into security, and begun uploading the program.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long for him to get caught. "What're you skulkin' around here for, eleven?" Luciano Bradley said, slipping into the room and crossing his arms to watch Suzaku.

Suzaku glanced up from the USB port where he'd put in Schneizel's program. "Merely installing something for the Prime Minister," Suzaku said.

"Is that so?" Bradley said. He stomped past Suzaku and began typing on the computer. "Huh, looks like whatever you're installing is affecting cameras around all of HQ. Especially the hangers."

"If you don't believe me, talk to the Prime Minister yourself," Suzaku said stiffly.

Bradley smirked. "Relax, Kururugi," he said, "I'm in on it too. Gotta wait for you to be done before I enact step two." He frowned and said, "I  _almost_ feel sorry for the sucker who has to handle Bismarck." Then a smirk crossed his face and said, "we were gonna blackmail Weinberg, but he's dead now. Maybe you'll work though. Someone who's dealt  _directly_ with geass, unlike the rest of us."

Then Bradley left.

Suzaku frowned and waited for the program to finish installing, then pulled the USB out and crushed it. "Geass?" he muttered under his breath and went to dispose of the USB. "Who told Bradly?"

* * *

The next few days were frantic for Euphy. She hadn't realized what she was getting in to when Lelouch basically pressed her into his military organization – especially considering that they functioned as the UFN's military and all day new weapons shipments came to the island. She first saw the ships coming in on her morning jog (not something she'd ever been able to do, and by the end she wasn't entirely sure if it was something she wanted to keep up). She saw more ships during breakfast and then lunch and then dinner. And she saw ships in the evening.

The bulk of the day was training. Kallen was a surprisingly harsh taskmaster, and by the end of the day Euphy was sore both from running laps and from being pushed further and further to the limits in her knightmare. Lelouch arrived at one point and announced that, excepting tomorrow, she had four days (including today) to get ready for the next operation. He also told Kallen that he had given Euphy the day off tomorrow, but she would get another 12-hour training day after that.

Euphy was able to call Suzaku during lunch and chat a little with him, but she couldn't say much and didn't want to tell him what she was doing. She knew he wouldn't be happy at all if he knew what she was doing – or that Lelouch had put her into it with no input at all.

Dinner at the mess hall also ended up being lively. Kallen had not found out that Shirley was at the island before then. "I knew you were a Black Knight now, somehow, but what are you doing  _here_?" Kallen had said when Shirley sat next to them.

"Zero's teaching me communications!" Shirley said cheerfully.

"Zero himself?" Kallen said.

"Well, he helps, but he's usually busy," Shirley said. "My post's to be in his office, but people like Mr. Reid have been helping me out."

"Everyone's going to think you're his mistress," Kallen groaned, "it's bad enough when they think  _I_ am."

"Why do they think that?" Euphy said.

"Kaguya," Kallen said, nodding to a Japanese girl cheerfully chatting with one of the chefs. "She's said before that Zero's harem would be her, CC, and me."

Shirley frowned. "He said CC's not like that to him," she said.

"She said yesterday she's not," Euphy said quickly. She glanced behind her at Kaguya again. "She looks familiar."

"I think she's Suzaku's cousin," Kallen replied.

"Oh yeah, Kallen, Zero asked how Gino's doing," Shirley said.

"Oh, fine," Kallen said, "I told him that if he behaved, he could eat with us."

"Really?" Shirley said, "are you sure he won't, you know-"

"I don't think he wants to sell out a royal," Kallen said quietly, after looking to make sure she wasn't overheard. She looked at the clock and said, "I suppose I'll go get him." Kallen left.

"Does Zero think he can get Gino to flip?" Euphy said.

"I think so," Shirley said. She giggled and said, "he actually thought about just ordering Kallen to seduce him, but CC and I talked him out of that."

A kind-looking brown-haired man came over. "I feel like I've seen you two before," he said.

"Oh, you're, uh, Ohgi-san, right?" Shirley said.

Ohgi nodded and reached out his hand. "And you are?"

"Shirley Fenette, sir," Shirley said. "And this is Euphemia Black."

"Pleased to meet you, Ohgi-san," Euphy said cheerfully.

"So, how's Viletta doing?" Shirley said.

"Vi-viletta?" Ohgi said. "What makes you think-"

"She disappeared a few days ago, I thought she went to go talk to you," Shirley said. She shrugged and said, "that's what I told Zero, at least."

"Uh, you told Zero?" Ohgi said, taking a step backwards – into Rolo. His face was blank.

"Zero wants to talk to you," Rolo said, looking at Ohgi. Then he looked at Shirley. "And you as well."

"Me?" Shirley said. Rolo nodded, and Shirley sighed and got up. "Alright."

Shirley and Ohgi left, leaving Rolo staring down at Euphy. "Hello, Rolo," Euphy said, "please, sit down."

"Why?" Rolo said, "I don't-"

"You're my brother, right?" Euphy said, "shouldn't I learn more about you?"

Rolo cocked his head and seemed to contemplate her for a few seconds. Then he nodded. "Let me get some food," Rolo said.

He returned after a bit and sat next to Euphy. "You seem very close to Lelouch," Euphy said, "is he close to you?"

"Yeah. Lelouch took a shot for me, even though it'd be easier to let me die," Rolo said.

Euphy smiled. "That sounds like something he'd do," Euphy said. "For the people he cares about."

Rolo smiled. "Thank you, Euphemia," he said.

"Please, call me, Euphy," Euphy said, "or maybe 'big sister'. I  _think_ I'm older than you!"

Rolo smiled a little more. "Euphy," he said, "what's Nunnally like? Lelouch seems really attached to her."

"Nunnally's a very sweet girl," Euphy said. "When Lelouch and Nunnally were younger, they always fought. Lelouch and Nunnally could both be brats. But after Nunnally lost her eyesight and legs, Lelouch took over as kind of a father to her, as much as he could. He's always doted on her."

"Do you think he likes her more than me?" Rolo said.

Euphy giggled. "Rolo, I think he likes Nunnally more than anyone. Nunnally's the most important person in the world to him. But give him time, and I think he'll love you just as much," she said.

"Do you really think so?" Rolo said, holding up a flip phone that a little pendant swung from. He stared at the pendant. "Euphy?"

"Well, Lelouch is close to me now, even after everything that's happened between us," Euphy said. "And I'm sure that Nunnally will love you too."

"You think so?" Rolo said.

Euphy nodded. Kallen and Gino returned a few minutes later. Gino was instantly the center of attention to. "What, I'm just a POW, that's all!" Gino said, as Kallen escorted him to get food and then back.

"You could at least not draw attention to yourself," Kallen said.

"Well, it's me and three Britannians here," Gino said. He looked at Shirley's vacant place and said, "and someone's food."

"That's Shirley's, she's with Zero right now," Rolo said.

The buzz around Gino subsided, and the Black Knights went back to their meal. Gino leaned in and whispered, "how are things, your majesty?"

"Fine," Euphy whispered back. "Gino, are you-"

"Look, I'm not here by choice, but I'm gonna do Suzaku a solid and keep an eye on you, at least," Gino said. Then he leaned back yawned widely. "But prison sure is boring."

"Well, unfortunately, we have no way of entertaining you," Kallen said.

"Sure you could," Gino said. "We could go on a date. Get some Pizza Hut or something."

"I don't think a CO and a prisoner should be going on dates, Gino," Kallen said, with a hint of bemusement in her voice.

"Well, there's a simple solution!" Gino declared, "just-"

"No," Kallen said matter-of-factly.

Gino started pouting, but Euphy tuned them out as Shirley and a relieved-looking Ohgi approached. "I told you Zero wasn't going to do anything to her," Shirley was saying, and she took her seat back. Ohgi went to get food. "Oh, hello, Sir Gino!"

"Hey, Shirley!" Gino said, "I was just trying to convince Kallen to go on a date with me."

Shirley crossed her arms. "Well, if Kallen said no, you shouldn't keep pushing, right?"

"She didn't say no, though, she said it wouldn't be proper," Euphy said.

Kallen closed her eyes and said nothing. She looked as if she was trying to ignore the conversation. Ohgi returned at this moment. "What's up?" he said.

"Dating," Rolo said, "I guess."

"Who's dating who?" Ohgi said.

"Me and Kallen, hopefully," Gino said.

Kallen shook her head slowly. "Well, prisoners and officers shouldn't date," Euphy said, "that's what Kallen said."

"And what if Gino here  _wasn't_ a prisoner?" Ohgi said.

"He's the enemy," Kallen said.

"That doesn't stop Euphy," Rolo said.

"That's different," Kallen said.

"Oh, are you dating a Britannian soldier?" Ohgi said, glancing at Euphy.

Euphy held up her hand to show Ohgi her ring. "My fiancé is in the Britannian army," Euphy said.

Shirley squealed in excitement. "Really?" she said, grabbing Euphy's hands, "congratulations!"

"I'm surprised you didn't know," Kallen said dryly. "Now, how about we do something besides discuss dating, before we try and set the feminist movement back 50 years."

"There's no harm in having fun, Kallen," Shirley said, crossing her arms.

Gino laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Kallen," he said, "I shouldn't press you on this."

Kallen finished off her last slice of bread and stood up. "If you weren't a prisoner, and you weren't working for Britannia, then I would go on a date with you," Kallen declared. Then she left.

"I hope you have more moral fiber than turning on Britannia just to go on a date," Ohgi commented.

Gino shrugged. "My heart is with the homeland," Gino said, "Kallen's pretty hot, and she has a winning personality for sure, but I don't think she'd like dating a traitor." Kallen returned from putting her food tray away and she sat next to Gino again. "So basically, I won't turn on Britannia unless I have a good reason."

"Serving a murderous emperor and a crazy, genocidal regime isn't enough?" Ohgi said.

Gino blushed and looked down. "Well, uh, when you put it  _that_ way-"

"You've got five minutes to finish your food, loverboy," Kallen said.

"Y-yes ma'am!"

Euphy could tell that Kallen wasn't actually as annoyed with Gino as she acted, since the rest of training for the night she was actually comparatively softer. "Do you think Gino will turn on Britannia in the end?" Euphy asked her.

"I don't know," Kallen replied. "I kind of hope so."

"Why's that?"

"I won't deny that he… intrigues me."

Euphy smiled at this but decided to keep the rest of her comments to herself.

* * *

"My, my, what a place."

Euphy had invited her old doctors to see her apartment that night. Suzaku would be visiting tomorrow, which she was extremely excited for, but she didn't want to cast her other friends from that time aside.

Dr. Eberhardt was examining her bookcase and Dr. Westinghouse was looking through her bathroom. "This is nicer than our apartment," Westinghouse commented.

"You two share one?" Euphy said.

Eberhardt nodded. "We're actually married," he said, "have been for a little while."

"I thought you were just engaged," Euphy said.

Eberhardt smiled. "We were, once, I guess it just slipped our mind to tell you," Eberhardt said.

"Euphemia, I heard you're getting training off tomorrow," Westinghouse said.

"Oh, yes, Suzaku's coming to visit me," Euphy said happily.

Westinghouse smiled warmly. "Please tell him hello from us," she said, "if possible, come visit!"

Euphy nodded. "That would be nice," she said.

Westinghouse walked over to Euphy's bed, that she'd put a case on. "I've got some medicine and stuff that should come in handy," Westinghouse said, "Zero's orders." She put aspirin and ibuprofen away then returned to her bag. She took a bottle of pills out and handed it to Euphy. "And this is for you."

She went back to stocking Euphy's cabinet while Euphy looked down at the bottle. It merely read "COCP" on the side. Curious, she flipped it over… and blushed. "Uh, Dr. Westinghouse," she said, "this – this isn't from Zero, is it?"

"He wanted to make sure you had something. He left that up to me," Westinghouse said.

Euphy quickly stowed the pills away. "I'm… going to go talk about  _literally_ anything else," Euphy said. Westinghouse smiled and shrugged.

Euphy went to talk to Eberhardt. He had finished examining her kitchen knives. "Quite nice," he commented. He turned and looked at the bookcase, and said, pointing at her book on the American Rebellion, "but I'm glad to see that book."

"Oh, yes, it's a very nice one," Euphy said, picking the book up, "it's the only one I took from prison."

"I remember giving it to you shortly after you woke up," Eberhardt said. "You might not remember, though."

Euphy nodded. "You've read it before?"

"Read it? Oh, something like that," Eberhardt said. He took the book from Euphy, flipped to a page, and then tucked the corner down. "Look at this page later. It's a nice painting."

"Thank you, Doctor," Euphy said.

"Of course, Princess," Eberhardt said.

Westinghouse finished stocking Euphy's cabinet and emerged from the bathroom. "I think we need to head back to our shift," Westinghouse said.

"It was nice to talk to you," Eberhardt said.

"Mmhm! Thanks, guys," Euphy said cheerfully. "Even for – well-"

"It's really more for future use," Westinghouse said, "I left a piece of paper with instructions."

"Um, thank you," Euphy replied, feeling a little awkward.

Westinghouse and Eberhardt left. Euphy waved them goodbye and decided to read Westinghouse's paper. She grabbed it from the bathroom and moved to the couch to prepare to read it…

And almost sat on her book. "Oh, yeah," Euphy said aloud, and she opened to the page that Eberhardt indicated.

It was farther in the book than she had read to. She flipped the page open and saw a set of two paintings. The first was of Benjamin Franklin, the famous traitor to the American Rebellion. And on the other was a painting of George Washington crossing the river Delaware. She knew this picture of course. Lelouch had loved it as a child. She smiled at this memory – and then noticed that someone had drawn on this one.

Specifically, they had drawn a circle around one of the rowers: a black man who looked remarkably like Max Eberhardt.

* * *

Cornelia li Britannia had been in many deserts. The Sahara, the Mojave, the Arabian, the Patagonian, the Kalahari, the Great Basin, the Syrian. She hated each one. And she hated this one, the Gobi desert, with a fiery passion to eclipse them all. Because she was almost out of water.

At least she was almost at her destination. She looked up at the mountain, surrounded by the desert on all sides. It was conspicuous, but to a normal person it was also unremarkable.

Cornelia was not a normal person. She knew a hollow mountain – a mountain fortress – when she saw one.

She stole away into the mountain easily enough. It was the hub of the Geass Directorate, that her careful study and questing had uncovered over the last year. She had known that Euphy would  _never_ have turned on the Japanese – nor, for that matter, that Darlton would turn on her – and her investigator had wound up here.

The mountain itself needed an easy in and out. It wasn't very large, and if she had to guess, it was for lookouts. Inside, the Directorate had a fairly impressive city situated inside of the very cool city. There were a handful of researchers walking around, but Cornelia avoided them all. She instead headed into the depths.

She passed empty prison cells set into the walls and found sets of laboratories at the lowest level. She picked the nearest one to go into and found… children.

Children, chained up and covered in filthy rags. A sign reading "Failed experiments" was mounted on one wall. "What hell is this?" Cornelia said.

She heard a door open at the entrance of the building. Cornelia quickly hid inside of a cabinet and watched through a crack as two white-garbed men dragged in an emaciated, nearly naked girl. The girl was doing her best to cling to her head, despite the men's best efforts. "Another one," came the voice of another man.

"Yeah, the director tried his best," one of the other researchers said, "no dice."

"Do you think this will ever work?" the third researcher said.

"Who knows?" the first researcher said. There was a shuffling voice and the same man said, "for heaven's sakes, get her clothes and medicine."

"She almost killed me!" the second researcher said.

"Can you blame her?" the first said, "geass acceleration does that."

"I don't get what she did," the second said, "accelerate something like Rolo's I get. But this?"

"Yeah man, I don't know," the first said.

Cornelia waited for them to throw her in a cage and get her her change of clothes and leave before coming out of the cabinet. The girl was now dressed and was unconscious. Cornelia didn't know if it was from a coma or sleep.

Still, she looked at the clipboard hung next to her cage: '0191' was listed as her 'name', and underneath it, 'Geass: Read Memories(?)'.

Underneath that was graceful, slender handwriting that read, 'FAILURE' and, beneath that, 'ACCELERATED - FAILED'.

The girl stirred and one eye opened slightly. For a brief second, Cornelia saw the same red symbol that had been burnt in Lelouch's eye last year. The girl's eye closed again.

Cornelia frowned and mentally filed this away. Then she went back to her infiltration.

* * *

Suzaku arrived the next day in disguise. While Euphy had meant to meet him alone, for security reasons Lelouch had sent Jeremiah to keep an eye on him. Suzaku, for his part, looked rather uncomfortable, at least until Euphy flung herself around him and gave him a deep kiss.

They walked back to her apartment, hand-in-hand, ignoring a few of the early workers' stares and Jeremiah quietly following them. They reached her apartment and, before they went in, Euphy turned to Jeremiah. "Can I show Suzaku where I work?" she said.

Jeremiah shook his head. "Not at this time," he said.

Euphy frowned but nodded. "Come inside, Suzaku," Euphy said, and he stepped in.

Once alone, Suzaku took off his disguise: a black wig, his wrap-around sunglasses, and a fake black mustache, as well as a rain jacket. "I never thought I'd be here," Suzaku said, "on the Black Knights' island."

"Me neither," Euphy said.

Suzaku walked around her little apartment, examining her television, bed, computer, and bathroom and minikitchen. "Zero said he got me one of the nicer ones," Euphy said, "he doesn't want this to be like a prison for me. Says he owes it to you."

"Do you have to stay in here all day?" Suzaku said, peering into the bathroom, probably at her small shower-bath.

"Oh, no," Euphy said. "I work with Kallen now."

Suzaku turned around. "Kallen's a pilot," Suzaku said, "Euphy, are you-"

"I want to help Zero," Euphy said. "It's what Lelouch would've wanted."

"Lelouch, huh? He's been missing for the last few days," Suzaku said, his face quickly turning sour. "And Shirley's gone too."

"Where is she now?" Euphy said, deciding to act oblivious.

"Her mother's not saying," Suzaku said with a sigh. "She says that she's on a trip with friends to Australia but calls her every night."

Euphy wondered if Lelouch had used his geass on Mrs. Fenette, or if Shirley was lying to her mother, or if Mrs. Fenette knew her daughter had run off to join the Black Knights – the ones who had killed her husband. Probably the first or second one, but Shirley's easy-going attitude made Euphy think it was the third. She decided to worry about it later, like that painting with Eberhardt or his ancestor.

So instead, she went over to her door and locked it. "Suzaku," Euphy said, "did you come here to talk to me about Lelouch and Shirley?"

Suzaku blushed and looked down. "No," he said, "I came to see you."

"Good," Euphy said. "Your disguise should be good enough that we can take a look at all the non-critical places."

"Even after what Gottwald said?" Suzaku said.

"I can check with Zero," Euphy replied. "I think he'll listen to me. He says he's interested in my old ideas, so why not trust me here too?"

"You're… you're not working with him, are you, Euphy?" Suzaku said.

"Why wouldn't I?" Euphy said. "Schneizel wants me dead. Father doesn't care what happens to me. Cornelia is gone. The Empire has no future for me. But if I can help this Zero make the kind of world Lelouch and I dreamed of… then I'll do it."

They spent the rest of the morning enjoying themselves. It felt good time to finally spend time with Suzaku, without the crushing guilt of the massacre hanging over her and as fully herself. And now that she was fully in her mind, she was able to do all the things she'd wanted to do with Suzaku but had been barred for security reasons. Whether it was making an actual breakfast for the first time together since before the massacre, or playing chess or video games against each other, or even talking about relatively pointless things like Arthur or Ashford or Nunnally's habits.

Someone knocked on the door around noon. Euphy sent Suzaku to hide in the kitchen and went to the door. She opened it to reveal Kallen. "Jeremiah talked to Zero," Kallen said, "he said you can at least take Suzaku to talk to Gino."

"Thank you, Kallen," Euphy said. Kallen nodded and left. She relayed this to Suzaku. "Let's visit him after lunch," Euphy told him.

"Yes, my lady," Suzaku said.

Once lunch was over, Suzaku donned his outfit and they made their way towards the prison cells. No one paid much attention to them – there were plenty of couples in the Black Knights, after all, and Euphy was in a Black Knights uniform. They were met at the prison entrance by Kallen.

"Welcome to Japan, Suzaku," Kallen said, and she slid the prison door open.

They followed Kallen into the depths of the prison, ending at an elevator that the three entered. "Where's Gino?" Suzaku said.

"Zero gave him a nice prison," Kallen replied, and the elevator began rising. A few minutes later, they reached a mostly-empty upper cell. The guard standing at attention by the elevator was dismissed by Kallen, and she went and switched off the surveillance.

"All clear," Kallen said.

Gino glanced over from his cell at this and saw Euphy with her arm linked with Suzaku's. "I was wondering when you were gonna show your ugly mug," Gino said, "how's it going with the viceroy, Suzaku?"

"Gino," Suzaku said, taking off his wig, "I swear I didn't mean for you to be caught."

Gino laughed. "Zero made it look like I died. My rep's intact at least," Gino said, "and it's not like I ever got along well with my folks. I just hope that Anya's not sad."

Suzaku smiled a little. "She's barely reacted. I think Nunnally was sadder," he said.

"So how are you doing here, Sir Gino?" Euphy said.

"Having the time of my life," Gino said. He leaned back on his cot and looked at Kallen. "Back when we had her in prison, I asked her if she would ever come back to Britannia as a Stadtfeld. Now she's trying to recruit  _me_."

Suzaku looked down. "I would say to do the right thing and follow your orders, but…" Suzaku said, trailing off.

Gino sat up from his cot. "What's the story, anyways," Gino said, "what's Princess Euphemia doing alive? Why did you suddenly start killing the Japanese anyways? We heard the rumors even in Pendragon that you were dating an eleven."

Euphy flinched as memories of the massacre ran through her mind. "Well, I-" Euphy began saying.

But Suzaku cut her off. "She was forced to," he said, "I can't explain it well, but…"

"Something went wrong, and a massacre was started," Kallen said. She looked at Euphy and said, "isn't that right, Euphemia?"

"Yes," Euphy said.

"Huh," Gino said. "But then, why did you defect to the Black Knights?"

"Schneizel tried to have me killed," Euphy said. "My doctors saved me, but…"

"Are you sure they weren't secret Black Knights operatives that tricked you?" Gino said.

Both Euphy and Suzaku shook their heads. "It was Kanon, for sure," Suzaku said darkly. "They wanted to murder Euphy because she was a loose thread."

"What do you mean?" Gino said.

"I think Schneizel plans to overthrow the emperor," Suzaku said, "he's having me and the other knights of the round running odd jobs at HQ. Bradley said Schneizel's going to do something to Bismarck." He paused then said, "I think he knew that my loyalty in the upcoming civil war was based on Euphy. So…"

"Better to kill me," Euphy said. "Then claim Suzaku for his own."

"Then that means that the government is lead by a guy who's gonna try and kill his majesty," Gino said, standing up. "I can't- does anyone know?"

"I don't know how far his conspiracy goes," Suzaku replied. "I know Bradley's in. Bismarck's not. I don't know about the others."

"Well, I- I-" Gino sat down again and grabbed his head. "I need to think about this."

"I'll come back in a second," Kallen told him. She turned to Suzaku and Euphy. "Visiting time's over. Let's go."

They were deposited back at Euphy's apartment, which they spent a little more time in, cuddling and watching movies. Then they decided to take another walk around outside and ended up eating dinner outside as the sun set. Fortunately, no one pried. Euphy did notice Lelouch watching them one time – but he was gone before Suzaku turned around to look.

At the end of the night, they returned to Euphy's apartment. "When are you leaving?" Euphy said.

"Zero said either tonight or early in the morning," Suzaku said. "Either way, I have to be back before anyone goes looking for me."

"Then… can you leave tomorrow morning?" Euphy said. She was starting to blush, she could feel it, but she pressed forward: "I… I want to spend the night with you."

"What do you mean?" Suzaku said, reddening. "You don't-"

She silenced him by kissing him more forcefully than she ever had, wrapping her arms around his neck. They broke away, and Suzaku swallowed. "We're getting married, Suzaku," Euphy said, leaning close to his face.

"My lady, I'm not sure-" Suzaku said, but Euphy cut him off with another kiss.

"None of that 'my lady' stuff," Euphy said. "Just 'Euphy' or 'Suzaku'," Euphy said. "No princesses, no sirs, no ladies… just us."

"I-I-" Suzaku looked down into her eyes. Then he smiled – a weak smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Yes… Euphy," Suzaku said. "If this is what you want."

And Euphy responded by hugging him, very tightly. "Yeah. I want to be with you, Suzaku. To at least have this night together. I want to squeeze out every hour I can out with you before you have to go again." She put her head against his chest and said, "so for tonight, I don't want to be Euphemia the fugitive and Suzaku the errant knight. I just want to be Euphy and Suzaku." She could hear his heart beating and his lungs slowly breathing in and out.

"Alright," Suzaku said, and he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "That's who we'll be. Just Suzaku and Euphy. Just us." He leaned in and kissed her again…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's up to you to decide what Euphy and Suzaku were up to after the scene change. Meanwhile, the plot thickens. This part actually saw heavy rewriting before I posted it today. Cornelia's little scene actually builds on a theory I saw somewhere a while ago, but I'll say it's not one that I actually subscribe to...


	5. Chapter 5

Lelouch was working on invasion plans in his office, his helmet set on his desk. Shirley was quietly working on her own paperwork at her desk in the corner, probably recruitment plans. CC was lazily finishing the last of her pizza as she lounged on the couch.

There was knock on the door. "Come in," Lelouch said. The door opened to reveal Jeremiah, with his hand holding Viletta's arm firmly, and Ohgi. Ohgi's eyes widened when he saw Lelouch. "Close the door, Jeremiah," Lelouch added once the three were inside, "then stand guard outside."

"Yes, my lord," Jeremiah said. He released Viletta and stepped outside, closing the door on the way out. That left Viletta and Ohgi looking at Lelouch, the latter somewhat incredulously.

"Zero?" Ohgi said, "you're-"

"I see Viletta has not yet told you who I am," Lelouch said. He stood up and said, "I trust you won't betray my confidence, Ohgi."

"Um, sure, but, uh… who are you?" Ohgi said.

"He's an imperial prince," Viletta said, "Lelouch vi Britannia, 17th in line to the throne."

"I withdrew when I was 10," Lelouch replied. "My royal heritage is of no concern to me."

"Then, you're that hostage of the Kururugis," Ohgi said, "and Viceroy Nunnally-"

"Is my little sister," Lelouch said. "We both have lived in Japan for the last eight years."

"Well, Lelouch, I won't be your slave anymore!" Viletta said, "I-"

"You were attacked by Sayoko because you went to kill Ohgi to get rid of my blackmail. But you couldn't bring yourself to hurt someone you'd loved, especially when he saved you from Sayoko's attack," Lelouch said dryly.

"D-did you send the assassin after Viletta?" Ohgi said.

"No," Lelouch said. "Diethard has a bad habit of doing what he  _thinks_ is best for the Black Knights." He crossed his arms and said, "Ohgi, even now you are my second-in-command. In that position, it is your right to decide what to do with Viletta."

"What do you mean?" Viletta said.

"The OSI will know that I'm not in Japan anymore very soon," Lelouch said. "Rolo, Shirley, and I have all been gone for a few days now. I aim to move on a Britannian ally and install CC to her rightful place. The Emperor will know before long. Your services, as such, are no longer needed."

"Then you want Viletta to defect to the Black Knights," Ohgi said.

"Tell me, Viletta, what kind of future do you hope for in Britannia, or at least, the one that exists?" Lelouch said. Viletta bit her lip but said nothing. "Ohgi, tell me… in the Britannia of now, can an eleven and a Britannian ever be together?"

"No," Ohgi said, and he looked down. "But I don't know what Viletta feels for me. She shot me, you know."

"And you still defended me!" Viletta said, turning to face him. "Why!?"

"Because I still love you," Ohgi said.

Viletta turned to Lelouch. "Why don't you tell Ohgi, then," Viletta said, "about geass and the SAZ? That would also have been the kind of world that Ohgi dreams of!"

It was a gut-punch and based on the surprise that both Oghi and Viletta had on their faces, he had shown that surprise too. He took a deep breath in, closed his eyes, and said, "geass reacted at the worst possible time. I don't know why. But yes, I caused that massacre."

"Y-you what?" Ohgi said, "then you-"

"Not on purpose," Shirley said, standing up from her desk, "Lulu would never-"

"Oh, you stand up to defend your  _prince_  again," Viletta spat.

"And I'll do it a thousand times! If you don't believe me, ask Princess Euphemia!" Shirley said.

"Shirley!" Lelouch barked, "don't!"

"Euphemia?" Ohgi said, and he turned to Lelouch and fixed a glare on him. "What does she mean, Zero?"

"Princess Euphemia survived Zero's bullet by the skin of her teeth, unbeknownst to us," CC said, standing up and walking over to Ohgi and Viletta. "She recovered for some time before Jeremiah cleared the command to genocide from her mind. Now she's in danger, so Suzaku plead for us to protect her."

Ohgi's eyes widened. "That pink-haired girl from yesterday," Ohgi said.

"Then you see that Euphemia is innocent, and only I am to blame," Lelouch said. He took another deep breath, then knelt on the floor before Ohgi. "Though I did not mean for the massacre to happen, though I did not mean for geass to react as it did… it is still my full responsibility."

"And what, he's supposed to forgive you?" Viletta said.

Lelouch reached into his coat and pulled out his gun. "I gave Kallen this opportunity," Lelouch said, and he gave the gun to Ohgi. "It's your choice now, Ohgi. It's silenced."

Lelouch waited to see if anything would happen. With Kallen, he'd been sure she wouldn't shoot. But with Ohgi, he had no idea. He closed his eyes.

And he waited.

And he waited.

And he waited some more.

"Get up," Ohgi said, "you want to make it up to Japan, you get us our country back."

Lelouch stood. "Very well," Lelouch said. He took the gun back from Ohgi and put it back in his cloak. "Thank you, Ohgi. I ask you, though, that you not tell anyone who I am – or who Euphemia is."

"You have my word," Ohgi replied.

Viletta looked at him. "What are you doing?" Viletta said.

"Japan still needs Zero," Ohgi said. "And I… I don't believe that you intended for this to happen."

"No," Lelouch said, "I was going to work with Euphemia."

Ohgi nodded. "I would've liked that," he said. Then he eyed Lelouch and said, "you… haven't used geass on us, have you?"

"I've never used geass to buy a single Black Knight's loyalty," Lelouch replied. "That's the truth."

"Very well. When are you going to reveal this to Tohdoh and the others?" Ohgi said.

Lelouch looked at CC, then at Shirley. "I'll tell them after the next operation," Lelouch said, "after the next step to take control of the power of the king."

"Then what are you going to do about me, Lelouch?" Viletta said, "what's going to stop us from spreading the truth?"

"Right now, no one would believe you," CC commented. "Magical powers that induced a massacre, ordered by the beloved Zero? But besides, Viletta Nu, your petty grudge is amusing but unbecoming of you."

"Pick the future that will bring you the most happiness," Lelouch said. "Do what you will, and I'll grin and bear it. But at least don't spread those truths until after Nunnally is safe."

"The Viceroy… fine," Viletta said, nodding.

"Then you'll stay here, Viletta?" Ohgi said.

"I… I haven't decided yet," Viletta said.

"Ohgi, when she decides to stay, I'm putting her in your unit. Listen to her advice," Lelouch said, "she's a smart woman."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Lelouch," Viletta said.

"It's not flattery if it's true," Lelouch replied. "You can even be second-in-command of Ohgi's unit, if you wish, Viletta. Or first, if he gives it up. It's up to him."

"Yes, Zero," Ohgi said. Viletta headed to the door and walked out. Before Ohgi left, he turned to Lelouch. "Zero, one more question. If you could go back in time and stop the massacre-"

"I would do it," Lelouch said, "I have no greater regret. Euphemia as well. Please, be kind to her."

"I will," Ohgi said. He shut the door.

"So, it's time for the walls around Zero to start coming down," CC said.

"So it seems," Lelouch said. He collapsed against his couch, and Shirley quickly pulled him into her arms. It was a soothing gesture. "Explaining the SAZ will be the worst part. There's only so many times I can pull that trick before one of them  _actually_ shoots me."

"But isn't it weird?" Shirley said, "your geass  _just_ so happens to go berserk at the last possible second?"

"Such things happen," Lelouch replied tiredly, remembering Mao. "All I can do is apologize and work for Euphy's old dream."

"I'm going to go now," CC said, "leave you two alone."

CC shut the door, and Lelouch let himself enjoy Shirley's warmth and closeness. "I wish people believed that you didn't mean it," Shirley said, "I wish there was just some way that it wasn't you."

"It was me. I accept that," Lelouch said.

"C'mon," Shirley said, pulling him to his feet, "let's go to bed."

"'Let's'? Shirley, you know that I'm too busy for things like sex," Lelouch said.

Shirley laughed. "Lulu, I'm not ready for anything like that. I just want to keep you company tonight, so you don't start hating yourself. Ok?"

"Ok."

* * *

Euphy's head was resting against Suzaku's chest, one hand held up to the light so she could examine the amethyst on her ring, her other hand intertwined with Suzaku's. Suzaku had his eyes closed, and Euphy was half-sure he was about to fall asleep. She winced as she shifted against him – she was a little sore– and then said, "Suzaku, remember when I said we should run away together?"

"Hm?" Suzaku said, and he opened his eyes. "Yeah," he said, "what of it?"

"Why not run away now?" Euphy said, "run away with me to the Black Knights?"

"I-I can't ally with them, Euphy," Suzaku said. "After what they did to you, and to my people…"

"Suzaku, you're letting your anger for Lelouch infect your feelings towards the Black Knights," Euphy said.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive him, no matter what you or Shirley say," Suzaku said.

Euphy sighed and turned so she could face him. She held up a hand to his face and cupped his cheek. "Suzaku, what kind of world do you want to have our family in?"

"Our family?" Suzaku said.

"I don't plan on it being just us forever, Suzaku," Euphy said. She moved his hand to the scar from the bullet on her stomach and said, "this won't stop us from that dream."

"Euphy, I… I don't know," Suzaku said.

"I  _can't_ live in Britannia anymore," Euphy said. "The laws are racist. They'd never let us be together."

"If I'm the knight of one-"

"Then you'll get special privilege. I don't want that," Euphy said. "I want everyone to be free."

"Euphy, I-"

"Father's not going to do that, nor is Odysseus, nor is Schneizel," Euphy said. "The empire has to change."

"Then who do you think would change it?" Suzaku said.

Euphy sighed. "You're not going to like it," she said.

"Who?"

"Lelouch."

"Absolutely not!" Suzaku said, jerking away from her, "Lelouch-"

"Do I have to command you to forgive him?" Euphy said. "I've told you. He didn't mean for it to happen. I've forgiven him."

"Then what about the Japanese!?" Suzaku said. "What does he think about them?"

"He… he feels bad too, I know it, he must," Euphy said. "But no amount of feeling bad can fix that wrong."

"What about forgiving Lelouch? What about trusting in him!?" Suzaku said, "the Japanese will never trust him!" He breathed in and out several times, before saying, "they need someone like me that they can trust. Someone that really has their best interests in mind."

"That's up to them to forgive. But Suzaku, the Japanese will never fully trust in you either," she said sadly. Suzaku's eyes widened, and Euphy added, "your people were massacred, but you fought against Zero. They don't know what happened with the massacre. They see you as a traitor. But if you fight with us, free Japan – then we can be together, and be happy!"

"What happened to the old you?" Suzaku said, shaking his head, "what happened to changing it from the inside?"

"How am I supposed to do that now, Suzaku?" Euphy said. "Schneizel wants me dead! Have you forgotten that?"

Suzaku breathed in sharply… and then he looked down. "You're right," he said. "Euphy, I… I need to think about this more. About putting Lelouch on the throne. About if I can forgive him."

"And when that's all over, we can be finally be fully happy," Euphy said, hugging him and putting her head on his shoulder, curling up against Suzaku. "Please, Suzaku?"

"'Your loyalty is not to the Holy Britannian Empire…'" Suzaku muttered. Then he pulled his arms around her and said, "I still need to go back. So long as Nunnally needs me, I'll stay by her side."

"Suzaku," Euphy said, "there's something you should also know."

"What's that?"

"At some point, we might meet on the battlefield."

"What do you mean?"

"I decided to join Zero's squadron, that's where Kallen is," Euphy said. "I couldn't just stay behind in yet another castle as some damsel in distress. I'm going to be his guard."

"Euphy," Suzaku said, looking distressed… and then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and nodded, "I… alright. I trust your judgement." He gave her a small smile.

"Thank you," Euphy said. She tightened her hug and said, "I'll tell the Black Knights to put a stripe of white on my knightmare. Look for that."

"I will," Suzaku said. He leaned forward and kissed Euphy on her forehead. "I promise."

She saw him off early in the morning. She went back to her apartment and couldn't help but smile at her Japanese poetry book, leaning against a book on the American Rebellion, before she left to resume training.

* * *

"How was the trip to Kyushu?"

Suzaku had slipped back into his apartment early in the morning, quickly showered and changed so he didn't smell like Euphy anymore and reported to HQ. He had then spent ten minutes waiting in a conference room for Nunnally to appear, mulling over Euphy's idea. Emperor Lelouch was the worst idea she'd ever had – which was saying something. She tended to think only with her heart, and her heart wasn't terribly bright (much as he loathed to admit it).

"I guess you're tired," Nunnally said, sounding a little exasperated.

Suzaku glanced up to see Nunnally and Lohmeyer. "Dr. Asplund said they ran into a problem with the Lancelot down there," Lohmeyer said. She pushed her glasses up her face and said, "is this true?"

Suzaku shrugged. "Don't ask me how that thing works. I just get in it and shoot people," Suzaku said.

"Cécile said everything was fine down there," Nunnally said, "even with the Lancelot malfunctioning."

Suzaku nodded. That had been his official story for yesterday: a "combat exercise" down in Kyushu, which was code for "hunt for a Black Knights contact that had been detected carrying two knightmares out of Japan", which was, in actuality, an excuse for Suzaku to be away from the other knights all yesterday and overnight so he could take Zero's sub. Lloyd and Cécile knew he was going to be gone, though they didn't know why, but had been kind enough to play along with his reported deficiency in the Lancelot.

"Did you find the enemy ship?" Lohmeyer said.

Suzaku shook his head. "I don't get it," he growled, "port authority, coast guard, the navy, the air force, even the local knightmare force – how could they be so useless?" His frustration was real – he actually had no idea how Zero was getting his ships past Britannia so easily. Did he have geass'd servants or something?

"Perhaps there's a traitor within our Kyushu administration," Lohmeyer said.

Suzaku sighed. "Something to look in to before the Prime Minister comes in a week," Suzaku said. He masked his distaste as he looked at a report in front of him about Schneizel's arrival. "Apparently he also wants to examine all of our evacuation craft."

"Why's that?" Nunnally said.

"With the Black Knights consolidating their little republic, they're sure to move against Japan," Suzaku said.

"I'm sure his majesty wishes for you to be safe," Lohmeyer said. Suzaku nodded and decided not to share his true thoughts on the matter.

Suzaku stood up. "Where are you going, Suzaku?" Nunnally said.

"There's something I want to investigate at Ashford Academy," Suzaku said.

He strolled through HQ's halls, past the damage wrought by Zero in Kallen's escape, and narrowly avoided Bradley. He arrived at Ashford half an hour later. He'd been putting this off as he tried to lay low, but Euphy's confident statements about Lelouch last night had convinced him that there was no way that Lelouch wasn't back. He  _was_ just a good actor. He easily accessed OSI.

And all that was there were a set of operatives with their eyes tinged red. "How long?" Suzaku whispered.

He entered the student council room, where Rivalz, Anya, and a whole bunch of people he didn't recognize were just finishing the meeting. Rivalz perked up when he saw Suzaku. "Hey, Suzaku, old pal," he said while the no-names filed out, "what's up?"

"When did Lelouch leave?" Suzaku said.

"Lelouch? Same time as Rolo and Shirley," Rivalz said, shrugging. "Oh, and Coach Viletta."

Suzaku nodded. That much he knew. "Do you know where Shirley's mom lives?"

"Huh? You didn't hear?" Rivalz said, blinking.

"Hear what?"

"She moved to Australia," Rivalz said, "complete whim!"

Geass. "I see," Suzaku said. He turned to Anya and said, "did anything happen while I was gone yesterday?"

Anya shook her head. "Lonely," she said quietly, "without Gino."

Suzaku bowed his head. "What happened is unfortunate," he said, "but at least-"

"He's not dead."

Suzaku glanced up at Anya, who was looking him right in the eyes. "Gino flies differently. The Tristan had a different pilot," Anya said. "No body. Someone kidnapped Gino."

Suzaku nodded. "Should I tell the Viceroy?" he said.

Anya cocked her head. "We should tell the Emperor," she said.

Suzaku fought off a frown. "I don't think we should waste His Majesty's time with that," Suzaku said.

Anya's eyes seemed to pulse red for a second, and then she said, "yeah."

Suzaku narrowed his eyes at this display. What was up with her? Geass as well? "Can I at least tell people that Gino is alive?" Rivalz said.

Suzaku shook his head. "The more people that know, the worse it is for him," he said, "if someone kidnapped him, it was probably Kallen. She might kill him if he stops being useful."

"Oh, ok," Rivalz said. He sighed and said, "it  _is_ kinda boring without you guys. No offense, Anya, but I miss you, Suzaku, and Shirley and Prez and Lelouch and Rolo."

Suzaku smiled a little at this. "Thanks, Rivalz," he said. He turned to go and said, "I'll begin an immediate search for Gino at the warehouse, Anya. See if you can find anything yourself." Anya nodded. Then Suzaku walked off.

He made it as far as the exit of Ashford when Anya tugged on his cape. "Suzaku," Anya said, "question."

"What is it?" Suzaku said, turning to face Anya.

She was looking through her camera before finding a picture, that she then showed to Suzaku: a photo of a camera that was dead. "The hanger," Anya said, "all of the cameras dead."

Suzaku frowned. "I'll report this to the Viceroy," Suzaku said, "did you see anything else?"

"Lots of meetings between the Knights and the Prime Minister," Anya said. "Bismarck and I not invited."

"I'm not either," Suzaku said. "Do you know anything about them?"

Anya shook her head. "I'll tell you if I find out," she said. Suzaku nodded and turned to go, and then Anya said, her voice inflection just a little different, "did you help them escape?"

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about," Suzaku said quietly.  _Your loyalty is to Euphemia li Britannia…_  Suzaku gripped his gun beneath his cape and turned to face Anya.

She had the same blank face. "What were we talking about?" Anya said, sounding confused.

"Nothing at all," Suzaku replied, letting go of his gun. "Good day, Anya."

* * *

Euphy's training went well, and her first combat mission was to a mountain in western China that was under control of a mysterious group called the Geass Directorate. Lelouch was in charge of the mission briefing directly, and Euphy could tell right away that it was going to be a very different sort of mission than one the Black Knights were used to.

"Most of the people here are civilians," Lelouch said, pointing to a list of scientists he had pinned to a board. "They are not to be harmed. You may find civilians, including children, with unusual, mind-bending powers. If that's the case, transmit the location to me and Jeremiah and I will go and handle the situation."

"What about armed people?" Kallen said.

"Capture if you can. Kill if necessary to save your life or that of your comrades," Lelouch said. He looked at Rolo and said, "a few of you will have special missions. Rolo, I need you to find Director VV and, if possible, capture him. I will assist as far as I can."

"Yes, Zero," Rolo said.

"CC, I need you to stop the leadership's escape. Tell them who's going to be in charge now," Lelouch said, looking at CC.

CC nodded.

"Black," Lelouch said, looking at Euphy, "stick close to me."

"Yes, sir," Euphy said.

"Alright. Move out," Lelouch said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this chapter shows what impact this is already having on Lelouch. Well, that and Shirley not being dead. His mental health is a lot better now. Fun fact: originally, the scene with Euphy and Suzaku was actually in the bathtub, not on top of Euphy's bed. I changed it since it didn't feel right.


	6. Chapter 6

Cornelia had met her uncle, VV, the most awful 10-year-old Cornelia had ever met, a few days ago. She'd tried to kill the little bastard but failed. He was immortal. Then he had shut her up, to "dispose of" later. Maybe he would make her one of his slaves or experiments like those children were.

Whatever fate VV had in mind, it had to be postponed as the entrance to the Directorate exploded and Black Knight-branded knightmares flooded in. It boiled Cornelia's blood to see them – the ones who had killed Euphy – but she could do nothing as she watched them race through the city.

That being said, there was very little gunfire. A great black knightmare, flanked by an orange one and a pale pink one with a white stripe around it, marked what Cornelia guessed was the Black Knights' leader. Whether it was Zero – Lelouch – or not, she didn't care.

Cornelia doubted she would see any mercy from the Black Knights. It would be better to die in combat. But to die as a prisoner? Pathetic. At least she would be with Euphy and their mother soon.

She felt the ground shudder, and Cornelia looked up to see that the pale pink knightmare had flown right outside her cage. The knightmare's "face" opened and the scanner began pulsing green. Cornelia examined the knightmare as its pilot decided what to do: it was a very nice knightmare, probably a recent model, a modification if she had to guess. It had a float unit on its back and based on the mounts in its arms and legs, shield technology like the Lancelot had. Its armament looked like it was designed for knightmare dismemberment – a specialty of European guerilla fighters who were more interested in leaving parts for salvage and forcing pilot rescue than they were in inflicting casualties.

The knightmare's "face" closed, and the knightmare fired up into Cornelia's cage, shattering the entrance. Then the knightmare pulled the rubble out of the way. "Well," Cornelia said, striding up to face it, "kill me now, Black Knight. It's exactly the kind of cowardly action you should enjoy."

The knightmare stared her down. The pilot was probably mulling over her declaration. Then, with a mechanical hiss, the back of the knightmare opened, and the pilot descended on their pull cord. Cornelia only saw a bit of pink before the pilot ran forward and tackled her in a tight hug.

"Cornelia!" her baby sister Euphy cried, "I can't believe you're here!"

Cornelia was in so much disbelief at seeing this ghost that she couldn't even hug Euphy back before she released her. Then Euphy pulled her gloves off and reached over and took Cornelia's hands. "Euphy," Cornelia said, "how-"

Euphy explained in a happy babble how the doctors saved her life, how Suzaku had taken care of her, how Schneizel had tried to kill her, and how she'd been sent to Zero to save her life. Cornelia couldn't help but laugh at the last bit – flee to Zero, who'd caused this mess in the first place! – but then Euphy had explained about what happened with the SAZ and the massacre. And then Cornelia's blood ran cold as she put together Euphy's story with VV's experiments.

She decided to press VV or Lelouch on that later. "I'm so glad to see you, Euphy," Cornelia said, squeezing Euphy's hands – and then wincing when she felt something hard dig into her right hand. "What?"

"Oh," Euphy said, and she pulled her hands away from Cornelia and held up her left hand. "You probably felt this," she said, blushing lightly, displaying a dazzling silver ring with a beautiful purple amethyst set in it.

"A-an engagement ring?" Cornelia said.

Euphy nodded. "We haven't decided on a date yet," Euphy said, "but since I'm dead, officially, and he's a knight of the round-"

"You're marrying  _Suzaku Kururugi_?" Cornelia said.

"Who else would I marry?" Euphy said, frowning. "Cornelia, I love him, and he loves me. That's enough for me."

Cornelia sighed. "Very well," she said, "you have my blessing."

Euphy smiled, and Cornelia couldn't help but hug her again. To see her alive again! It was wonderful.

The ground suddenly shook again and a Siegfried knightmare burst out of the lower city and up through the city. "VV!" Cornelia snarled.

A flurry of knightmares followed the Siegfried outside. "I need to join them!" Euphy said.

"Wait," Cornelia said, "there's something we cando that they won't know about."

"What's that?" Euphy said.

"There's a weak point," Cornelia said. She went outside and looked around, but there were no knightmares in sight. She frowned. What to do? Then she looked at Euphy's knightmare. "Euphy, let me help you shoot."

"Alright," Euphy said. Euphy mounted her knightmare, then lowered the cable for Cornelia. "The Guinevere's designed for anti-knightmare, so this should work fine."

Euphy engaged the flight system and they began rising up towards the entrance. "So you named it after our sister?" Cornelia said.

Euphy laughed. "I hadn't thought of that," Euphy said, "I never got the impression that Guinevere liked me much." She shook her head and said, "no, Suzaku has the Lancelot, and I have the Guinevere. Fitting, don't you think?"

"Makes me wonder why we named a knightmare the Lancelot in the first place," Cornelia said, "we're just inviting betrayal at this rate."

"I'll just think of it as fate," Euphy replied.

Outside, a furious battle between Siegfried and the other knightmares was going on, full-force. The Siegfried was practically invincible. But not for long. "Alright, Euphy," Cornelia said, "tell me you know how to shoot non-stationary objects."

"I practiced that yesterday," Euphy said. "But, um… where do I aim?"

Cornelia helped Euphy line up the Guinevere's cannons with the bottom of Siegfried, then waited for it to start approaching the firing zone. "We have one shot," Cornelia said, and then she slammed her palm on the back of Euphy's chair and yelled, "now!"

Euphy opened fire, and shells poured from the Guinevere's cannons into the bottom of the Siegfried, disabling its defenses and sending it tumbling. "Good job, Euphemia!" an unknown voice said from the comms.

Euphy pressed a button on the system and said, "thank you, Kallen, but you can thank my sister for that!"

"Wait, not-?" this Kallen said. She cut out in a flurry of static.

Then the comms crackled again. "All units, prepare for occupation. I'm going in after VV," the unmistakable voice of Zero said. The black knightmare plunged back into the Directorate, followed by a silver knightmare.

Euphy moved them into the city, and the two dismounted to meet up with Kallen – the Black Knights' red-haired teenaged ace. "Viceroy Cornelia," Kallen said, "we owe you a debt."

"And I owe you for protecting Euphy," Cornelia said.

Kallen looked around, and then said to Cornelia, "let's go talk somewhere more private." Kallen lead them into an empty office. "Do you two want to talk alone?" Kallen said.

"We can catch up later," Cornelia said. She put her hand on her hip and said, "are you going to take me prisoner, now?"

"No, join us!" Euphy said.

"What?" Cornelia said, turning to face Euphy, "do you know what you're saying?"

"Cornelia, Britannia has no future for me, only the Black Knights," Euphy said. She reached out her hand to Cornelia. "Please, join us. Make a new world."

"Euphemia, I'm not going to topple Britannia," Cornelia said.

Euphy shook her head. "I'm not going to topple Britannia," Euphy said. "I want to change its leadership."

"To who?" Kallen said.

Euphy looked at Kallen and smiled. "Lelouch," Euphy said, "he would make a great emperor, don't you think?"

"B-but that would put him in charge of the Black Knights  _and_ the Empire!" Kallen said, "we'd become the thing we swore to destroy!"

"We can change Britannia, then," Euphy said, "make the United States of Britannia. As it is, Britannia will be a force for evil until things change."

"You're asking me to overthrow not just our father, but Odysseus and Schneizel too," Cornelia said.

"Yes," Euphy replied. "I want a happy world, and at this point that's all that's left for us to do."

"Revolution," Kallen said. Euphy nodded.

Cornelia contemplated her little sister, who still had her hand stretched out to her. She thought about what Euphy had told her – about the SAZ and the massacre. But then she thought about VV's gloating, how VV was an ally of the Emperor, what VV was working on, and about what Euphy had said about Schneizel. She had no real desire to help the Black Knights, and she needed to speak directly to Lelouch before she would back a bid for the throne she wasn't even sure he wanted. But at the very least…

She reached out and took Euphy's hand. "I'll help you," Cornelia said.

"Are you- are you joining the Black Knights?" Kallen said, sounding shocked.

"If you want to call it that, yes," Cornelia said, releasing Euphy's hand and turning to face Kallen. "I swear on my honor and the name of Cornelia li Britannia that I will work with my sister, so long as she works with Zero."

"Understood," Kallen said. Her comms made a beeping sound, and she walked away to take the call. "Ohgi-san?" she said, and she began saying something in Japanese and left the room.

Leaving Euphy and Cornelia with each other again. "Alright, Euphy," Cornelia said, crossing her arms, "tell me what's up now."

"Not much," Euphy replied. "I've basically told you everything." She clasped her hands and said, "but you were in Europe, right? What were you doing there?"

"I was trying to prove your innocence," Cornelia said.

They spent the next twenty minutes talking about Cornelia's trips around the world – about her painstaking tracking of Geass scientists, about reaching out to old friends and contacts to track down General Bartley, and about what she'd found with geass acceleration.

The final part seemed to interest Euphy the most. "Forcing geass to activate? Then you're saying that… neither of us is at fault?" Euphy said.

"By the sound of it, Lelouch still meant to shoot you or make you shoot him," Cornelia said. "Giving you a gun was irresponsible, even if he planned on forcing you to shoot him. And his example command was awful. But if you're telling the truth about the massacre, then…"

"But there's no proof," Euphy said, looking down.

"Then we interrogate VV," Cornelia said. "Come on."

Cornelia left the room, Euphy trailing her. A Japanese man came up to them. "Euphy-san, what are you doing with the prisoner?" the man said.

"Kinoshita-san," Euphy said, bowing to him, "Kallen asked me to stay with her."

"It seems as if I'm defecting," Cornelia informed Kinoshita.

Kinoshita looked surprised, but he nodded. "Ohgi-san just arrived with occupation forces Zero sent for," Kinoshita said, "I think he's looking for you."

Ohgi himself came up and dismissed Kinoshita. Then he turned to Euphy. "No one's been bothering you, right, princess?" Ohgi said.

Euphy blinked. "How do you know?" Euphy said.

"Zero told me, as second-in-command," Ohgi said. "He told me who he is too." He bowed to Euphy and said, "I'm sorry for our role in demonizing you. It seems Zero was the one behind the massacre."

"Even that we're not sure of," Cornelia said.

Ohgi straightened. "Huh?" Ohgi said, looking at her.

"We need to interrogate someone," Cornelia said. "You know about geass, then, so come along."

Ohgi nodded. "There's someone else who knows more, let me grab her," Ohgi said, and he headed off towards the entrance.

Five minutes later, Cornelia was leading Euphy, Ohgi, and, of all people, Viletta Nu into the depths of the Geass Directorate. Scientists were standing by the side, watching them go, but Cornelia didn't particularly care what they were saying. Eventually, Cornelia marched them into the Geass headquarters. The great stone doors were still firmly shut, and VV was nowhere to be seen, though a burning wreck that was once the Siegfried was just outside.

"This looks like the kind of place Rolo described," Viletta said, looking around the chamber. "Is this where he-"

She froze mid-sentence for some reason, for just long enough for it to be noticeable. "S-sorry…" someone moaned in the darkness. Viletta tried to back away but froze for a few more seconds again.

Cornelia turned to see a brown-haired boy with purple eyes limp out of the shadows – and then appear a few feet in front of her, almost as if he had teleported. "Rolo?" Euphy said, "how are you-"

"He-he overwhelmed me," Rolo whispered. He staggered forward and sank to his knees, clutching his chest. "I-I failed L-lelouch-"

"No! Rolo!" Euphy said, and she rushed forward and then… just stopped moving. Rolo crawled forward, and then Euphy rushed forward again as if nothing'd happened.

Viletta snatched away Ohgi's comms. "Jeremiah! Get down here with the doctors!" she shouted into it.

"Right," came a voice over the comms.

"What's going on?" Cornelia said.

"He-he forced my geass to trigger," Rolo said. "Now it's erratic, and- my heart-" He was suddenly a few inches further again.

"Hold on, Rolo, we should be able to stop this," Euphy said. She bit her lip and said, "maybe Lelouch can help…"

A knightmare landed outside, and Jeremiah Gottwald came out, tailed by a black man and a Britannian woman that looked somewhat familiar. "Dr. Eberhardt! Dr. Westinghouse!" Euphy said, and she began waving at them – and then froze again.

"W-what?" the black man said, "is this-"

Jeremiah rushed forward and sent out an orange field, somehow, that emanated around him. "What's going on!?" Cornelia said, completely bewildered, "Gottwald-"

"Geass canceller," Viletta said.

"Eberhardt!" Ohgi said, and the black man nodded and rushed forward.

Cornelia watched as the black man and the Britannian woman examined Rolo, especially his eyes. Jeremiah would send out the occasional pulse. "What does this all mean?" Ohgi said, shaking his head.

"This means," Cornelia said, "that there's more evidence for my theory."

"What's that?" Viletta said.

"That Euphy's brainwashing was induced," Cornelia said, crossing her arms. "If we could establish that VV was there, then-"

"VV?" the black man said.

Cornelia looked over at him. Rolo was out, sleeping by the look of it. Jeremiah was picking him up. "What happens to him now?" Euphy said before Cornelia could press the black man.

"We'll have Zero and CC look at him," Jeremiah said. "I'll take him out to the airship."

Jeremiah left, and Cornelia looked back over at the black man. "You," Cornelia said imperiously, "what do you mean by VV?"

"Name's Max Eberhardt, ma'am," Eberhardt said. He crossed his arms and said, "by chance, is this VV a short, smug little boy?"

"He's no boy," Cornelia said darkly, "but yes."

"He was on the  _Avalon_ ," Eberhardt said. "I kicked him out of the operation room, actually, when he kept hovering around Princess Euphemia."

"Wasn't VV the one that Zero sent Rolo to capture?" Euphy said.

The others shrugged.

"We can ask Zero when he returns," Ohgi said. "But if this is true…"

"Where is he?" Viletta said.

"He followed VV," Euphy said. She looked at the door and said, "based on Siegfried, he's probably in there…"

Ohgi ran up to the door and tried to move the door, but nothing happened. "These are too large to force our way in," Cornelia said. She looked outside the building and said, "we could use the Guinevere to blast our way in, I suppose…"

"I don't know if my shells would be strong enough for that," Euphy said.

But forcing the doors open became a moot point when the doors opened and the black knightmare skidded out. The doors swung shut again, and the black knightmare slammed into the side of the wall. Then its hatch opened and Zero dropped out. Then he retrieved an unconscious green-haired woman and laid her on the ground.

"Zero!" Ohgi said, walking up to him, "what-"

"Charles has VV's code," Lelouch said. He was clutching his head. "CC's… something's up with her."

"What do you mean?" Viletta said.

"I-I don't know," Lelouch said. He looked at Eberhardt and Westinghouse. "Hm? Euphy's doctors?"

"We got called to treat Rolo Lamperouge," Eberhardt said. He briefly explained what happened, and Lelouch nodded.

"I see," Lelouch said. "Alright, Ohgi, I need someone to be in charge of this place until CC's recovered."

"I can go look over the scientists, sir, unless you want someone directly under your control," Ohgi said.

Lelouch looked from Viletta to Cornelia and then back at Ohgi. "Is General Bartley here?" Lelouch said.

"I saw him earlier," Cornelia said.

"Find him, I should be able to cow him into working for me," Lelouch said.

"Yes, sir," Ohgi said. "Come on, doctors, Viletta."

"Take CC with you," Lelouch said. They waited a few minutes in an awkward silence for a medical knightmare to arrive and take CC and the doctors away, and then Viletta and Ohgi left as well.

Then Lelouch took off his helmet and faced Cornelia. "I suppose you want to kill me too, then?" he said to Cornelia. He looked exhausted and even a little depressed.

"I think I determined what happened to you and Euphy, actually," Cornelia said. She explained about Rolo and VV and the experiment that she found, and at the end, Lelouch was shaking his head.

"I made a mistake, people died, and I almost killed Euphy over it," Lelouch said. "Don't try and whitewash my crimes, Cornelia."

"But don't you find it a  _bit_ too convenient!?" Euphy cried, "that your eye reacted  _exactly_ when you gave your example?"

"I still used that example!" Lelouch barked, then he looked away. Euphy jumped, and his expression softened. "I'm sorry, Euphy, I just- don't try and make me feel better about that."

"This isn't like you!" Euphy said. Then her expression softened too, and she said, "did something happen to CC?"

"The Emperor almost killed her," Lelouch said. "I don't know if she'll be the same again."

"I'm sure she will," Euphy said. She sighed and said, "maybe there's someone else you can ask for help with this on?"

"I don't know," Lelouch said, but he took in a deep breath and said, "and it doesn't matter. You – you're probably right, Euphy."

"Either way," Cornelia said, "even if you don't believe it, I'm sure that VV did this to you."

"What makes you so sure?" Lelouch said.

Cornelia pointed at Euphy. "If it had been intentional, you would have killed her already," Cornelia said, "reveal to the whole world that Schneizel saved the life of the massacre princess to plunge Japan into open rebellion again."

"Maybe I'm just using Euphy to control Suzaku," Lelouch said.

"If you were, I wouldn't be given a place in Zero Squadron as your guard," Euphy said.

Lelouch sighed. "Sure," he said. He looked at Cornelia. "I take it you defect, then?"

"I'm working with Euphy, so, yes," Cornelia said.

"You'll be assigned to Zero Squadron too. Officially, I'm keeping an eye on you. Unofficially, you're actually keeping an eye on Euphy," Lelouch said.

Cornelia nodded. Being given orders by Lelouch, of all people, was an odd sensation, but she knew she would get used to it in time.

Bartley came by again, and Lelouch charged him with running the Geass Directorate until CC was ready to take over again. Then they went to the airship, leaving behind Black Knights to occupy the Directorate, and Cornelia was sent to the brig for the time being. She watched Euphy head off to help with maintenance for the Guinevere, and Lelouch to his quarters. "Emperor, huh?" Cornelia said as she watched him go.

"We'll see," Kallen replied, appearing behind her. "Let's go, Princess Cornelia."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter this time, because a longer chapter next time. I leave with this question: even if Cornelia's right about VV and Lelouch... does it mean he still needs to seek redemption?


	7. Chapter 7

CC was acting like a child. Like a slave or something. It was pathetic, and there was nothing Lelouch could do.

What he  _could_ do was plan out his next move – go and rescue Nunnally and liberate Japan in the process. He could also help Rolo recover. Much as he disliked Rolo, Euphy seemed to be under the impression that he actually  _liked_ the little bastard that had tried to take Nunnally's place, and Lelouch had to admit that he was still useful. Whatever VV had done to Rolo seemed to be dissipating, but it  _did_ bother Lelouch. He didn't want to believe Cornelia's theory because he felt like it deprived Lelouch of the horror he'd experienced: if he was going to avoid another massacre, he needed to remember the one he'd done.

This theory earned him an argument with Shirley. "I can't believe you, Lelouch!" Shirley had yelled at him, "the rest of us don't need to commit  _genocide_  to know not to do it!"

Then she shut him out of his quarters.

And thus, Lelouch was left to mope in his office. Euphy was spending time with Cornelia over in the prison, under Kallen's eye (while the latter kept working on Gino). CC was a terrified child who kept calling him 'master', which was making him very uncomfortable. Ohgi was rounding up senior leadership for a meeting tonight. Rolo was in the hospital. Nunnally was in Japan with Suzaku. Jeremiah was helping Ohgi. And even his own girlfriend was simmering in the next room over, angry at his self-pity.

Because that's what it was. Self-pity. He knew that. "Dammit!" he said, slamming his fist on his desk.

CC gasped from the corner. She said something in French, then said, "does master want me to do something?"

"No, just eat your pizza," Lelouch said. He had a headache again. After Euphy showed up, everything seemed to be going better and better. Suzaku was neutered as a threat, Cornelia and Jeremiah had switched sides, Ohgi's wavering loyalty was shored up for now, Kallen was back, and he was on the cusp of rescuing Nunnally and bringing about the end of Britannia. But now Charles was immortal. And CC was effectively… gone.

The office door opened. Lelouch glanced up and saw Shirley. "Sorry, Lulu," she said, "I… I guess I've been mad at you. So I lashed out."

"Mad over what?" Lelouch said.

Shirley looked down. "Maybe not mad, just jealous," she said, "you seemed so… so mad over what happened over CC, and I feel like… like you give her more attention."

She left, shutting the door again, and Lelouch thought back to what Euphy had said at the Directorate: "maybe there's someone who can help you with this."

"CC," Lelouch said, looking at her as she scarfed pizza, "I'm going to be out for a little. Don't leave this office unless you have to. Then come right back."

"Ok," CC said.

He put his helmet back on, left the office, and went to his quarters. He let himself in and found Shirley lying on his bed, reading a magazine. "Shirley," Lelouch said, taking his helmet off, "you're right. I have been focusing more on CC, even since you got here."

"I understand," Shirley said. She sounded a little downcast, but she rebounded and said, "I mean, she helps run the whole thing. I'm not even a good comms officer. I-it's understandable!" She sighed and sat up. "Besides, she has geass and stuff, right? She'll always understand you better."

"CC is immortal, something I never plan on being," Lelouch replied. He set his helmet down on a chair and sat next to Shirley. "It's just… I feel responsible for the SAZ, no matter what VV did to me. I'm not even sure he  _did_ do anything."

"But it will let the Black Knights rationalize away your behavior," Shirley said. "They won't kill you."

"Even though they probably should?" Lelouch said. "I'd be happy so long as Nunnally was safe."

"And what if Nunna thought her brother was unfairly killed, over something he might not even have responsibility for?" Shirley said. She reached over and curled her hand around Lelouch's. He let their hands intertwine. "Lulu, all of the United States that you've been making have the same law. 'Innocent until presumed guilty'. And for something like this, beyond all reasonable doubt. Like it or not, there's reasonable doubt."

"That doesn't make me feel better," Lelouch said.

"Euphy seems to have gotten over it," Shirley said.

"I think she's just bottling it up and not thinking about it," Lelouch said.

"Maybe," Shirley said, apparently sensing that this route wouldn't work on Lelouch. "But Lulu, if you want to make a happy world for Nunna, then we need you."

"We?"

"Nunna needs you, the Black Knights need you, Euphy needs you," Shirley said, and her voice broke a little as she said, "I need you."

"Shirley," Lelouch said, turning to look at her.

She was looking down, her eyes hidden, but Lelouch could see tears starting to run down her cheeks. "We sent mom to Australia, so she'd be safe. But she's brainwashed right now. I told myself that was ok, so we could make a better world. A gentle one. A-and dad… Lulu, if you owe it to the Japanese to die, then you owe it to dad to live. To make sure his death wasn't in vain!"

Shirley looked up at Lelouch, and his heart broke to see her tears. He remembered the last time she had seen her looking like this – back when Mao had manipulated her against him, and then before when she had kissed him in the rain. "You're right," Lelouch said, "you… you're right."

They said nothing. Lelouch just waited for Shirley to stop crying. He had no idea how to comfort her – without CC being able to serve as a source of advice, who did he have? The 17-year-old engaged to his former best friend? The Japanese man who'd hidden his affair from Zero? Or…

Or…

Or the woman at his side, trying to get herself back under control – the one who'd defended him from Ohgi and Viletta, who seemed so determined to see the good in him? "Shirley," Lelouch said, "do you want to do something?"

"Do what?" Shirley said, wiping her eyes with her free arm.

"I… I don't know," Lelouch said, "I've never done this before."

"Done what?"

"Asked a girl on a date," Lelouch said.

"Huh?" Shirley blinked and said, "don't you have more important things to do?"

"I'm overworking myself. Tonight, I have to reveal myself to Black Knights' leadership. I might not come out alive," Lelouch said. "CC will be fine. I can ask Euphy to spend time with her or something. But I… I need to do  _something_ to calm down. To clear my mind before this."

"Lulu… if you really think this might be the last thing you get to do before you die," Shirley said, "shouldn't you spend it with your sisters? Or maybe, at least, make Suzaku let you talk to Nunnally?"

"I don't want to worry any of them," Lelouch said, "but you, you I can trust enough to tell my fears and worries." He stood up. "And I want to spend time with you. You've sacrificed everything to be with me now. Even – even your father."

Shirley got off the bed and took his arm. "Alright, Lulu," she said, "let's go out to the city, to China. And spend some time together."

Lelouch smiled at her. "Alright," he said, "forgive me for this, Shirley."

"Hm?"

"I promised myself, I would make you happy," Lelouch said. "Back when you helped me rescue the Black Knights."

"Huh?"

"So if the last thing I can do is make you happy," Lelouch said, "I will."

"Lelouch…" Shirley said quietly, intertwining her hand with his again, "your death won't make me happy."

"Then savor our time together," Lelouch said.

They split apart for their trip to the docks, then changed in the fast submarine to China. Their trip to China was wonderful, and for the first afternoon in a long, long time, Lelouch forced himself to forget who he was – to forget Zero, to forget Lelouch vi Britannia, to forget all of the cares and worries in the world, and to just focus on having fun with his friend.

They visited a restaurant, went shopping together at a local mall (Lelouch posing with a Zero action figure in one of the aisles), and saw a short movie together. But the best part was a walk along the sea shore. Off in the distance was a container ship, one that Lelouch knew was loaded with weaponry heading to the Black Knights. But far away from the Black Knights and all their troubles, it seemed like a distant care – a mere curiosity.

They sat down on a bench looking out at the ocean. Shirley rested her head against Lelouch's shoulder. The sun was starting to set. It was like a cliché, a romantic evening before the battles begun. Shirley closed her eyes and the two sat there for ten minutes as Lelouch watched the container ship disappear into the horizon.

"When's your meeting, Lulu?" Shirley said once the ship slipped away.

"Not for a few hours," Lelouch said.

"What'll you do after?"

"You mean, if they don't kill me?"

"Don't talk like that," Shirley said. She didn't sound mad – she hadn't even opened her eyes. Instead, she moved a little closer and said, "you'll survive. Please. You have to."

Lelouch smiled softly. "If I do, then I'll announce my plan to invade Japan. We'll take it to the UFN tomorrow and storm Japan. I'll have Suzaku save Nunnally, and Japan will finally be free."

"What then?" Shirley said. "What happens after all this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… will Zero ever be just Lelouch again?" Shirley said.

"I don't know if I can ever be the boy you fell in love with, Shirley," Lelouch said. He put his arm around her shoulders and held her close. "I don't even know why you loved him."

"I loved him for his heart, that's never gone away," Shirley said. "No matter how much blackness you've dripped on your heart, Lulu, the good in you will still shine through."

"That won't make me who you loved."

"You're still the man I love," Shirley replied. "That hasn't changed."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes. "Why me?" Lelouch finally said. "Why your father's murderer? Why the butcherer of the Japanese? Why someone who fails so badly, that his best friend hates him, his sister was stolen away, and his other friends captured or killed?"

"Lulu, I can see the pain in your eyes when you talk about the Japanese," Shirley said, picking her head off his shoulder so she could look in his eyes. He saw worry and concern written in them. "And my father… CC told me it was the first time that you broke down since she's known you."

Lelouch thought back to that day – to yelling in the shower, lashing out at CC, and his determination to not let Shirley's father's death go in vain. But then he thought of more memories – of a kiss in the rain, of an embrace on a staircase, and finally of a woman who looked so much like the girl he'd known – but could never be her again.

"You loved her, didn't you?" Shirley had asked him then, not knowing they were talking about her – or who he was.

He hadn't answered – not that question anyways.

"Shirley, I-" Lelouch said, "I honestly regret his death."

"And I've forgiven you for that," Shirley said. She looked over at the sea and said, "Lulu, when I look at you, I see a lost and confused man. Everyone thinks that you know exactly what you're doing. That you have all the answers. That everything is planned. Even for someone like Kallen, who knows who Zero is, I don't know if she quite understands how lost you are."

"And you do?" Lelouch said.

Shirley smiled and looked at him. "I wish I did," Shirley said. "No matter how hard I try, I can't focus on your faults. I guess that's what love does to you." She looked back at the ocean and said, "but honestly, you remind me of Suzaku."

"What?" Lelouch said, "Suzaku?"

"Even though he knew Euphy was alive, she would've wanted to kill him, right?" Shirley said. Lelouch nodded. "That meant, to him… Euphy was dead. I think that's why he spoke of Zero with so much hatred."

"When did you talk to him?" Lelouch said.

"On the roof of the mall in Tokyo," Shirley said, "after you saved me." She paused and said, "I think that time might've been what confirmed to Suzaku that you're Zero. And why, even though he hated you, he reached out to you to save Euphy's life."

"What are you talking about?" Lelouch said.

"When I jumped, you screamed, 'I can't lose you. I don't want to lose you,'" Shirley said.

Lelouch thought back to that day and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I did," Lelouch said.

"And I feel like people like you, who are always in the face of danger, they need someone to bring them back to normal life. Someone who's good and reminds them of what they're working for," Shirley said. "To Suzaku, that's Euphy. She's his reason for living. But to you, that was always Nunnally"

Lelouch thought back to another memory, one a long time ago, with CC. "Do you love her?" "Don't know." "Do you hate her?" "Don't know."

_You loved her, didn't you?_

"Nunnally's not the only one for me like that, Shirley," Lelouch said. "You are too."

Shirley blushed and looked at him. "Really?" she said.

"You don't give up on me, even though I don't understand why," Lelouch said. "Your loyalty is a kind I can't understand."

"Can't understand?" Shirley said gently, "or one you can't express?"

_I don't want to lose you._

"Shirley, I- do you remember," Lelouch said, "at Narita. After Mao. You met me but didn't know who I was."

"Yeah," Shirley said slowly, "I remember. You were… mourning. Talking about a woman who meant a lot to you. 'Her smile saved me'."

"You said, 'you loved her, didn't you'?" Lelouch said. "And I… I didn't know, then."

"And now?"

Lelouch kissed her. It was the first time he'd ever initiated a kiss. When they broke away, he said, "I think I did."

Shirley smiled and squeezed his hand. "And what about now?" she said.

"I still do," Lelouch replied. "I'll never be as intense as Suzaku or Ohgi or anyone. But I-"

This time, Shirley leaned in and kissed him, shutting him up. When she broke away, she sighed and rested her head against his shoulder again. "You're not Suzaku or Ohgi. I don't want you to be."

"Then who do you want me to be?" Lelouch said, "Lelouch Lamperouge, the one from school?"

"No," Shirley said, "and I don't want you to be Lelouch vi Britannia or Zero either. I just want you to be Lelouch. The good man underneath who makes his hands dirty to make a lighter future but doesn't let that define who he is."

"People like me don't belong in that kind of future, Shirley," Lelouch said. "Devils can't go to heaven."

"Lulu, we're all just waiting to be angels," Shirley said. "Even you."

They watched the sun finish setting. "We should head back," Lelouch said.

Shirley nodded. Their walk back to the submarine was hand-in-hand. But Lelouch felt better, for the first time in a long time. The unease he'd had for a year was almost gone. Now, if he could get back Nunnally and stop his father, he could be happy. No, he was happy now. But then it would be the kind of future he wanted.

The submarine slipped through the water quickly. "Do you want to be at the meeting?" Lelouch said.

"Yeah," Shirley said, "if you really are going to die, then I want to make sure you die in someone's arms."

"Thank you, Shirley," Lelouch said, taking her hand and kissing it. "You have no idea this means to me. How much you do."

She smiled. "I think I have an idea, Lulu," Shirley said, and she leaned against him as they watched the water stream around the glass. "But I hope we have enough time together that I'll learn for sure," she added, closing her eyes.

* * *

Euphy was watching CC for Lelouch, but there wasn't much to do. CC seemed afraid of her, said the occasional thing in what sounded like French, and ate pizza that Lelouch had left behind. Euphy tried to connect to her, but to no avail. Euphy even tried a little bit of her rusty French on her, but it didn't work.

Someone knocked on the office door after a few minutes. "Come in," Euphy said.

The door opened to show Kinoshita. "Oh, hey, Euphy-san," Kinoshita said. "Ohgi-san wanted to know where Zero is. He can't raise him."

"Zero went to Shanghai for the afternoon," Euphy said, "he should be back by tonight. He asked me to watch CC until then."

Kinoshita nodded. He looked at CC. "Is something wrong, Miss CC?" he said.

" _Êtes-vous qui_?" CC replied.

"Um,  _c'est mon ami monsieur Kinoshita_ ," Euphy replied. CC nodded.

"What's that?" Kinoshita said.

"Something happened to CC at the Directorate," Euphy said, "she's reverted to a lot of French."

"R-reverted?"

"You saw the kinds of things that were at that place," Euphy replied. "Something happened to her too."

Kinoshita sighed. "All my life I've thought stories about things like demons or witches were false," he said. "The first witch I thought ever saw was Princess Euphemia when she fired that first bullet." Euphy flinched, but he didn't notice and continued: "but now… now I wonder if something happened to her too."

He turned to leave. "Kinoshita-san," Euphy said, "even if it  _was_ forced, what should Euphemia do?"

Kinoshita glanced back at her and frowned. Something seemed to click in his mind and he said gently, "well, it seems as if she's already trying to make amends by fighting for Japan." He closed the door again and walked past Euphy to the window. CC crawled away from him, but he paid her no mind. "Past that, I don't know. My old job was as a chemical engineer. When someone died because of an accident, we took responsibility. We couldn't punish the equipment. We could only make sure it still worked." He paused then said, "I guess, if it was forced… Euphemia was kind of like that equipment. The sin falls on the one who ordered it. I don't know what she should do."

He left, and Euphy frowned.

About half an hour later, Ohgi himself came by. "Euphemia," he said, "Zero still isn't here."

"No," Euphy said, "he'll come back. Don't worry."

"What if he's just trying to run from justice?" Ohgi said.

Euphy bit her lip. "If he did, Suzaku would hunt him down," Euphy said, "is- is everyone assembled?"

"Yeah," Ohgi said. "Except Zero and Kallen."

"Where's Kallen?" Euphy said.

"With Gino and Cornelia," Ohgi said.

Euphy glanced at CC, who'd dozed off. "I can go get her," Euphy said.

Ohgi nodded. "Alright," he said, and he left.

Euphy locked the door to make sure CC was alright and headed for the prison complex. She found Cornelia lounging in her cell, her handcuffs off and her long hair spilling across her back as she read a book, while Gino's cell door was open and Kallen and Gino were eating dinner together.

"Hey, Euphy," Cornelia said, glancing up, "even though I defected they still don't trust me, it seems."

"Sorry," Euphy said, shrugging. She looked at Kallen and said, "aren't you going to the meeting tonight?"

"Yeah, if only to defend Zero," Kallen said, "they're not gonna be happy about the massacre."

Gino looked between Euphy and Kallen and then looked down. "Zero was behind it?" he said.

"He is partially responsible," Cornelia said, standing up. "Euphy. I doubt the Black Knights are going to be very trusting of whatever Lelouch says. We have to help him."

"Why do you want to protect him?" Kallen said, "you were his enemy."

"I simply have a different sentence in mind," Cornelia replied. "But I will not allow them to kill him over something he may not have had full control over."

Kallen nodded. "Well," she said, "I  _did_ get a directive from Zero to bring you three with me."

Twenty minutes later, the four entered into the conference room. General Tohdoh, the other two remaining Holy Swords, Diethard Reid, Ohgi himself, Kaguya, and Rakshata were all already waiting. "The Britannians?" General Tohdoh said, "why are they here?"

"Zero's request and my guests," Kallen replied. "Gino, sit next to me. You should be easier to track there."

"Yeah, sure," Gino said.

"Cornelia, Black, stand in front for now," Kallen said, "Black, guard Cornelia."

"Yes, sir," Euphy replied.

She turned to Cornelia, but Cornelia was unmoving. "Mr. Ohgi," she said, "is the plan of this meeting to become a lynch-mob?"

"A-a what now?" Ohgi said.

Cornelia turned to Kallen and said, "can you call those two doctors and Jeremiah here?"

"What do you need them for?" Kallen said.

"I think that they should all know the truth about the massacre, and about the Directorate, and about my father and geass before Zero arrives," Cornelia said.

"'The truth'?" Rakshata said, "what is there to be 'truth' about that?"

"Euphemia snapped and started killing Japanese," Asahina said. Then he pushed his glasses up and said, "unless that's not the full story…"

"It's not," Ohgi said. He sighed and said, "bring in those doctors and Jeremiah if you want, Cornelia, but let me say what happened in the massacre."

Ohgi relayed what happened – excluding that Euphy had survived the bullet – and how he had heard the whole thing from Zero's own mouth. "That's ridiculous," Diethard said at the end, "I  _know_ you've been associating with that Britannian. She's poisoning you against the Black Knights and Zero."

"My loyalty is to the Black Knights!" Ohgi snapped.

"Not from what I've seen," Diethard replied.

The door opened and Eberhardt, Westinghouse, and Jeremiah slipped in.

"I would never betray Zero without good reason!" Ohgi said.

"Yeah, but for you, 'good reason' is a woman telling you to turn on Zero," Diethard said.

"Diethard, Ohgi, enough," Kallen said, standing herself. "I heard the same thing from Zero. I think I was the first Black Knight to know besides Zero himself and CC."

"Then… the current Zero is the one from the Black Rebellion?" Tohdoh said.

"Yes," Kallen said.

"Then… why did he abandon us?" Chiba said, "why go through all the trouble of murdering us just to flee when we almost had victory?"

"I… someone kidnapped his little sister," Kallen said, looking down. "But Zero-"

"Kallen," Kaguya said, "did you believe Zero when he said he didn't intend it?"

Kallen nodded. "I really don't think he wanted the massacre to happen."

"That doesn't change the fact that it did, and he should be punished for it," Chiba said.

"I wish to hear Zero himself about this," Tohdoh said. "However, no matter what he says… I think it may be time to eliminate Zero."

"What? We can't just kill him!" Diethard said.

"We can arrange an accident," Asahina said. He looked at Rakshata and said, "you can, right?"

Rakshata looked away. "I  _could_ , yes, but I too want to hear from him first."

"If he still has this geass power, it may be for the best," Kaguya said. She sighed and said, "I can't believe my husband would betray Japan like this…"

"Well, good thing he's not your husband," Kallen said sharply. Then she shook her head and said, "killing Zero wouldn't be the right thing."

"We can get rid of him after we take back Japan, then," Chiba said. "Are we in agreement?"

Tohdoh, Ohgi, and Asahina all nodded. Kaguya nodded last. Diethard stood up, as did Kallen. Rakshata looked impassive. "This is ridiculous!" Diethard said, "killing Zero won't bring back the dead!"

"But it will satisfy their need for vengeance," Tohdoh said, "and it will cleanse our hands of working with him."

"Well, we didn't know," Diethard said, "we can still act like we don't know-"

"It will be a stain on our souls," Tohdoh said, "death is the least we can give him for what happened. For taking us in, deceiving us, building the Black Rebellion on a foundation of lies, and then leaving all of those deaths to go to waste by abandoning us for some girl-"

And Euphy stormed up and slapped him.

She could've dropped a pin and heard it fall. "Who are you?" Tohdoh said slowly, "Black, was it?"

Euphy replied by pulling her glasses off and undoing her hair, letting it tumble down. "I am Euphemia li Britannia," she declared, "princess massacre. I was the one used to murder those hundreds of people. If you're going to kill anyone, it should be me."

"Princess-" Ohgi said.

"No!" Cornelia said.

"Euphemia, what if-" Kallen said.

"My lady!" Gino yelped.

"I don't care what Lelouch or Suzaku have to say about this," Euphy declared, "let me answer for my own actions."

"But Euphy, they weren't your own!" Cornelia said.

"I could throw off geass enough not to kill Suzaku. I couldn't throw it off enough to stop the massacre," Euphy said. She stared down Tohdoh and said, "but say what you will about him or me. But don't you  _dare_  insult Nunnally by referring to her as just 'some girl'. And don't you dare insult all of the people by referring to them as going to waste!" Euphy yelled.

Tohdoh stood up. "So Zero played favorites even with the victims," Tohdoh said, "leaving you alive too, another thing he hid, huh?" He looked at Ohgi and said, "and why did  _you_ hide this?"

"Because this is our leverage on Suzaku Kururugi!" Ohgi said.

"And because we shouldn't hurt someone not responsible for her actions," Kallen said, "if we did go after her, knowing the truth – we'd no better than Charles!"

"Justice must be served, Kallen!" Tohdoh said, slamming his fist on the table.

"Justice or revenge?" Euphy said.

"You shut up," Tohdoh replied.

"Tohdoh, you're not thinking clearly!" Diethard said.

"Not thinking clearly? My countrymen are dead!" Tohdoh yelled.

And then someone started laughing – laughing hysterically. Some of the sharp tension receded as everyone looked at Eberhardt, who finished laughing and said, "God,  _you're_ the miracleworker? How pathetic."

"Who are you?" Tohdoh said, narrowing his eyes.

"I am Max Eberhardt, a doctor serving some branch of the royal family for a very, very long time," he said, walking to the front. "I wish you had even a shade of the grace of General Washington, General Tohdoh."

"What is there to be found here for  _grace_?" spat Tohdoh.

"Think," Eberhardt said, putting his hand on Euphy's shoulder, "he sacrificed so much all for a half-baked rebellion. It's pathetic. And from what I've heard, from Suzaku… he  _was_ pathetic."

"He was," Kallen said, "I saw myself."

"How are we going to get justice?" Tohdoh said.

"What  _is_ justice here, General Tohdoh?" Euphy said.

"I'm not talking to you," Tohdoh replied. He put his hand on his sword and said, "as a matter of fact-"

There was a clicking sound as Kallen took out her gun and leveled it at Tohdoh. "I will not hesitate to kill you, Tohdoh," Kallen said, "you kill her, Suzaku comes and kills all of us. Don't sacrifice the Black Knights for revenge."

"Revenge? This is about the honor of the Black Knights!" Chiba said, standing.

"Really? Is  _this_ what  _honor_ is?" Eberhardt said, "murdering a defenseless teenaged girl over something she had no control over? Deciding to execute Zero without hearing a defense  _or_ what was discovered at the Geass Directorate?"

"What are you trying to say, doctor?" Tohdoh said.

"I'm trying to say that if this is what the Japanese thought passed for honor, it's a good thing you were conquered," Eberhardt said coldly.

Tohdoh drew his sword and pointed it at Eberhardt's throat. "Say one more word," Tohdoh said.

But Eberhardt smiled. "Tohdoh, you can stab me, I can bleed, and I won't die," Eberhardt said. "I've known real revolutionaries. You're pathetic."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tohdoh demanded.

"Tohdoh, sit down," Kaguya said sharply, "you're making a fool of yourself."

"Kaguya, this isn't about you!" Tohdoh said.

"I lost my family in that massacre," Kaguya snapped. She looked at Euphy and said, "Princess Euphemia, on behalf of the houses of Kyoto… we forgive you and Zero-sama for your actions."

"W- even Zero?" Chiba said.

"Forgiveness doesn't mean erasing guilt or the need for atonement," Kaguya said. "But hating Zero won't do anything. It'll be like what happened to my cousin."

"Suzaku," Euphy said, looking down. She took in a deep breath and said, "Kaguya-sama is right. General Tohdoh, my brother and I can't bring back the people who died. We can't change the massacre, or the Black Rebellion, or everything else that happened. But redemption won't come from having a sword stuck through our chests, or our heads filled with bullets."

"Who says you need redemption?" Tohdoh said.

"Let me ask you, General," Euphy said, "what if you were the one who was ordered to kill all the Japanese?"

"I would kill myself," Tohdoh said, "I would never cause a massacre."

"And in order for that to happen, you'd need a code," Eberhardt said, "you would shoot just as much as she did."

"Then when I came to, I would kill myself," Tohdoh said.

"And that would clean your sin?" Euphy said.

"Yes," he replied.

"Then shouldn't we have that same choice?" Euphy said, "to cleanse our own sins?"

Tohdoh nodded after a few seconds. "Swear to me, Britannian, that on your honor you will seek redemption," he said. Euphy nodded. Then he handed her the sword. Kallen directed her gun from Tohdoh to Euphy.

Euphy looked at the sword. "Euphy, no!" Cornelia said.

Euphy looked at Tohdoh, who was glowering at her. Then she looked at Ohgi, who'd paled, and then she closed her eyes, took in a deep breath, and said, "my blood won't clean the blood already on my hands, Tohdoh." She cast the sword aside and said, "I can work my whole life, and that blood will still be on my hands. But if I can make a world where such a thing will never happen again, I will. Killing myself will just keep a cycle of hate."

"I see you have no honor," Tohdoh said.

"I will seek redemption without suicide, Tohdoh," Euphy said. "I'm not going to be a coward."

"What?" Tohdoh said.

"That's what  _that_  is," Euphy said, pointing at the sword, "cowardice. Killing yourself because it's the easiest way to avoid responsibility. I would sooner spend my entire life working to right what went wrong. You seem like a brave and honorable man. If you were in our shoes… I think you wouldn't choose death either."

Tohdoh was quivering with anger, but then Asahina said, "boss, she has a point."

"You too, Asahina?" Tohdoh said.

"Sorry, sir, but she has the guts to reveal who she is, knowing we would want to kill her," Asahina said. "You gave her your sword and she cast it aside. I say we hear out Zero too. See how he acts. If he acts with honor too, if he realizes what he did… then let's not throw him to the wolves."

"Then-" Chiba said.

Asahina stood up. "I motion that we delay  _any_ thought of punishment for Zero until we've examined all of the evidence."

"I second the motion," Kaguya said.

"I third it," Rakshata said.

Kallen nodded.

"If we're going to be just, we need to act justly," Ohgi said.

"Yeah," Diethard said, "and it seems like there's still more to this. The Geass Directorate. I want to know about that too."

All eyes turned to Tohdoh and Chiba. Chiba put her hand on Tohdoh's shoulder. "Sir, they're right," she said. She looked at Euphy and said, "Euphemia. You sincerely swear that you never meant harm to us?"

"Never meant harm?" Euphy said, and she said, "I never did. Every bullet was against my will. Now, because I want to rescue Japan, I fight. And I'll keep fighting until Japan is free."

Chiba nodded. "I accept the motion," Chiba said.

Tohdoh glanced at her, and then he looked down at the sword. "Euphemia," he said, quietly, "please… forgive me."

"Huh?"

Tohdoh walked around the table, picked up his sword, and then knelt at Euphy's feet. "I have acted very dishonorably towards you," he said, "I was filled with anger and malice and revenge. I swear that this is not the way of the Japanese, and I do not want you to think less of us for my own bad behavior."

Euphy smiled and knelt herself. "And please forgive me for keeping this from you, General," Euphy said. Tohdoh stood up, but Euphy kept kneeling. "All I ask is that you listen to us about what we found at the Directorate, and listen to what my brother has to say."

Tohdoh nodded. "I will," he said, "and I, too, accept the motion."

"Thank you, General," Euphy said, and she hugged him. He seemed surprised, but after a second, he returned it.

"Thank you, Euphemia," Tohdoh replied.

"Now that that's over," Eberhardt said as Euphy went to stand by Cornelia and Tohdoh returned to his seat, "I will now present what we found out at the Directorate…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has two of my favorite scenes. I hope Tohdoh's behavior doesn't come off as too strange. Essentially, he had to calm down, but he's still a good man inside.


	8. Chapter 8

They changed back before they hit the base. Lelouch let Shirley go first out of the submarine. Then he stepped out and was instantly beset on by Jeremiah. "The leadership has been gathered, sir," Jeremiah said. "I've also brought Princesses Euphemia and Cornelia, and Gino Weinberg, as you directed."

"Alright, Jeremiah," Lelouch said. "Then let me talk to them all in peace."

Jeremiah nodded as Lelouch entered the elevator leading to his conference room.

He entered to see Diethard, Ohgi, Tohdoh, Asahina and Chiba, Kaguya, Rakshata, and Kallen. In the back, Euphy stood, Cornelia next to her in handcuffs. Shirley was also in the corner and gave Lelouch a small smile. Gino was sitting at the table next to Kallen, more obviously in handcuffs than Cornelia.

Lelouch closed the door and shut it. "Ohgi said this was an urgent meeting," Tohdoh said.

"He mentioned you would finally reveal yourself to us," Rakshata said. "And, I assume, based on Cornelia in the back there…"

"Cornelia has agreed to join our side," Lelouch replied. "And Ohgi is correct."

Lelouch walked up to the table and pulled out his gun. Then he dropped it on the table. "What's this for, Zero?" Diethard said.

"By the time I'm done, I predict you'll want to kill me," Lelouch said. Then he reached up and began pulling off his helmet. He let it collapse into his hand, then lifted the face-plate away for dramatic emphasis. Then, he put it in front of Kallen.

"A boy?" Tohdoh said.

"Well, we already knew he was young," Asahina said.

"And a Britannian," Chiba said.

"And handsome!" Kaguya said excitedly.

"That's not all," Ohgi said, furrowing his brow. "Let him introduce himself."

And Lelouch bowed to them, in the Britannian style – with an arm across his waist, like a gentleman. "I am Lelouch vi Britannia, former 17th prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, the full-blooded brother of Viceroy Nunnally vi Britannia."

"A royal is in charge of the Black Knights?" Deithard said, "why?"

"To create a better world for my sister Nunnally," Lelouch said, "and a world where I could enact my revenge on the Holy Britannian Empire for murdering my mother."

"Why lead a Japanese resistance group, then?" Tohdoh said, crossing his arms.

"Convenience," Lelouch said. "And perhaps… I saw a spark of myself in the Japanese. A people vanquished, but not destroyed. A people with pride who would want to destroy Britannia as much as I wanted to."

"This is a surprise, but nothing worthy of death," Asahina said, looking distastefully at the gun. "Frankly, I have no idea how long Britannia's con would have to be if you worked for them."

"I do not work for Britannia," Lelouch declared, "as should be obvious. However, it doesn't change the fact that I murdered General Katase and Lieutenant Colonel Kusakabe. I initiated the SAZ massacre. I let Euphemia li Britannia take the blame for my crimes." He bowed his head, and said, "I present you only with the facts now. I think I can die contented. So long as one of you can stop my father, and so long as Nunnally is safe… I'm happy."

He knelt on the floor on his knees and bowed his head. The Black Knights were in stunned silence, he knew. "Forgive me, Shirley," he muttered, though he was sure that she couldn't hear him.

But the gunshot didn't come. "Zero," Tohdoh said, "we're not going to kill you until you explain yourself."

"Explain myself?" Lelouch said, "what is there to explain?"

"Before this meeting started, Ohgi, Kallen, and Cornelia explained about the massacre, and this 'geass'," Rakshata said.

"What?" Lelouch said, looking up.

"I wasn't about to let them kill you," Cornelia said from her corner. "You made an awful decision, but the geass reaction at that precise moment is too contrived for my liking."

"We heard the testimony of Gottwald, Eberhardt, and Westinghouse, who all saw Lamperouge's writhing from this VV's attack," Tohdoh said. "And the security from the Geass Directorate."

"Kinoshita found security recordings from Rolo Lamperouge trying to apprehend VV, and of their experiments," Asahina said. "We examined it, and it certainly seems as if this VV would be capable of such a thing. Considering your willingness to die for this decision, attested to by Ohgi and Kallen… I do not believe you should be punished harshly for the massacre."

"The only punishment we require at your hands is to win Japan back," Chiba said. "Once that is done, we will reveal what transpired. That Zero was controlled by a Britannian agent known as VV. And then we will show the footage from the Geass Directorate."

"Geass will no longer be a secret," Ohgi said. "But I think that will mean that most people will see that Zero and Euphemia were not monsters, but yet more victims."

"Why protect me?" Lelouch said, stunned.

"Your remorse," Kaguya said softly. "And it's the least we can do for Princess Euphemia. She was brave enough to reveal herself to us."

Lelouch looked over at Euphy. "You did what?" Lelouch said.

"Lelouch, I can't let you kill yourself," Euphy said. "So I told them what happened. What we planned. And what I plan now."

"Before we get to that," Diethard said, "what about the Japanese generals? Why kill off the JLF?"

"Kusakabe was a loose cannon that we went after as the Black Knights," Ohgi said. "I don't think his death was necessarily a loss."

"He killed innocent civilians for no gain," Tohdoh said, nodding. "But why Katase?"

"I had to have control of all of the resistance groups of Japan," Lelouch said. "It was more convenient that way."

Tohdoh closed his eyes. "I see," Tohdoh said. "I am… disappointed, Zero. To see that you built the Black Knights on a foundation of lies."

"I have no excuses," Lelouch replied.

"However," Rakshata said, "General Katase's death was done before the massacre. Euphemia claims you have lost your earlier arrogance. That you thought of yourself as the savior of Japan – but after the massacre, you lost that thought. Is that true?"

"Yes," Lelouch said.

"And that's why you had us exile ourselves from Japan," Ohgi said, "so we wouldn't infringe on Viceroy Nunnally's attempts to resurrect the special zone."

"That is correct," Lelouch replied.

"I see," Ohgi said.

"One final question, Zero," Diethard said, "did you use geass on any of us to exact our loyalty?"

"No," Lelouch said. "No one in the Black Knights is with us through geass."

"Yeah, I mean, if he did," Gino said, speaking up for the first time, "why wouldn't he just tell me to switch sides, instead of getting Kallen to work so hard on me?"

"And none of us would even be able to  _comprehend_  moving against him," Kallen said, "this whole meeting would never happen."

The Black Knights all nodded amongst themselves. "The question still stands," Lelouch said, "will one of you put me down for my crimes? You can rationalize them away all you want. They won't change them."

Ohgi stood up. "I will not shoot Zero," Ohgi said. "I propose we follow the plan that was set forward."

"I'm not about to shoot my favorite subject," Diethard said, standing up as well. "I'm sticking with Zero until the end. And we're going to need someone to televise geass's explanation."

"I'm not going to kill Zero," Asahina said, standing up. "His blood won't bring back the Japanese who lost their lives."

"I'm with Ohgi," Kallen said, standing. Gino stood with her but said nothing.

"I won't shoot Zero-sama," Kaguya said, hopping up. "I'm sad that so many people suffered thanks to VV, but Asahina-san's right."

"I'm not about to shoot someone who's given me so many opportunities to advance my engineering," Rakshata said, standing.

That left Tohdoh, who still had his arms crossed, and Chiba. "I will leave the decision to General Tohdoh," Chiba said, standing herself, "but of myself, I won't shoot Zero."

Tohdoh was in the middle of the table, and the last one that Lelouch was kneeling to. Then, finally, he stood, picked up the gun – and emptied the bullets onto the table. "I'm disappointed, but I can't bring back the general," Tohdoh said. "If General Katase's death was necessary to unite the Japanese and will give us our country back, then I'll accept it. But I expect a memorial to him and the JLF."

Lelouch stood. "Then what will you do to me?" Lelouch said.

"You will lead us to victory in Japan," Tohdoh said. "And then, you will become the Emperor of Britannia."

"I-what?" Lelouch said, staggering back. "I don't want-"

"As Emperor of Britannia, you will release the outlying areas to become their own nations," Ohgi said.

"And reorganize the Holy Britannian Empire into the United States of Britannia!" Kaguya added.

"Why me? Why not Cornelia or something?" Lelouch said.

"This isn't to increase your own power. It's as punishment for what you've done," Cornelia said.

"And what will stop me from just using Britannia's power to bring the world in line?" Lelouch said.

"We don't know yet," Diethard said. "Not until we talk to Suzaku Kururugi."

"What do you mean?" Lelouch said.

"Well, it sounds like the whole plan is that when you're emperor, you're gonna make Suzaku your top knight," Gino said, "and Suzaku will put you down if you move on the rest of the world."

"You have two options, Zero," Diethard said, "either you agree to work with us, or you die."

"Lelouch," Euphy said, coming around the table to face him, "you want to make a world Nunnally can enjoy, right? A world filled with peace?" She reached out her hand – and Lelouch remembered another meeting with her, a little under a year ago, and now he saw her as she was then – wearing her formal dress, with her hair down and her eyes still without glasses – and he took a step back, shaking. "Lelouch?"

He clasped his hand over his eye. "I'm not going to do it again!" Lelouch said, stepping back another time, "I'm not going to –"

"You can't anymore, Lelouch," Euphy said soothingly. He could almost see the bloodstains on her dress. "Please, show me your eye."

Trembling, Lelouch shook his head. "Zero?" Diethard said, "what's-"

"This is like just before Lelouch lost control," Euphy said gently. She took another step forward and put her hand on his hand covering his eye. Lelouch could feel a tiny sliver of cold metal against his hand – the reminder of who Euphy was now. Then he saw her as she was now – her hair up, glasses on, dressed in a Black Knights uniform.

Lelouch let Euphy pull his hand down. Now he realized he wasn't in the Britannian command center, but in front of the Black Knights. "I don't think Zero meant for the massacre at all," Asahina said, looking disturbed, "that was too realistic."

"What was?" Diethard said, "what just happened?"

"A flashback," Tohdoh said, "a sign of severe trauma."

Euphy kept holding Lelouch's hand. "Well, Lelouch?" Euphy said, "things are different. There won't be a massacre again. You won't lose me or Nunnally or Suzaku again."

_I don't wanna lose you or anyone else in my life!_

"Will you accept the proposition, Lelouch?" Kallen said, "will you make a better world with us, instead of by using us?"

"I-" Lelouch said, "I…"

He felt someone take his other hand and squeeze it. He glanced and saw Shirley, smiling softly at him. "Nunnally needs you, Lulu," Shirley said. "We're almost at the world you wanted. So listen to them."

Lelouch looked from Shirley to Euphy, and back again. Then he sighed and pulled his hands from the two women, stepping forward and kneeling – this time, going down to one knee. "If this is the will of the Black Knights, then I accept this contract – this geass. To change the world, not according to my selfish desires, but towards a peaceful future."

"Then we accept you as our leader," Tohdoh said, "we will remain loyal, and we will strive to fulfill whatever plans are necessary to make our vision come to pass."

"Thank you," Lelouch said. He stood up and looked at Gino. "And what about you?"

Gino came around the table and knelt at Lelouch's feet. "All hail Emperor Lelouch," Gino said, bowing his head.

"I'm not going to bow to my little brother," Cornelia said from her corner, still leaning against the wall, "but I will support you and Euphy in this."

"Now we can be a family again, Lelouch," Euphy said excitedly, "now it can be like we dreamed!" And Lelouch realized, in that moment, whose insane idea it was to make him emperor. He smiled, almost in spite of himself.

"Now we can at least fulfill the dreams of those who died," Lelouch said. He turned to Euphy and clasped her hands. "Thank you, Euphy."

Euphy smiled. "You're welcome, Lelouch."

"That leaves us with one more matter, then," Rakshata said, "the planned liberation of Japan, no?"

"This will be our first big push against Britannia," Diethard said. "If we get a clean victory, it'll make great propaganda."

"Schneizel's been moving men, and Knights of the Round, to Japan," Chiba said. "Which means that we may encounter him there."

"We need to get rid of him, permanently," Lelouch said. He drew himself back up to his full height while Shirley and Euphy returned to the back of the room and Gino moved to stand by Kallen again.

"Understood," Tohdoh said. "You've drawn up the battleplans?"

"Yes," Lelouch said, "I had them ready in case anything happened to me."

"We can submit the proposal to the UFN tomorrow," Kaguya said. "Are we all in agreement, then?"

"Yes," the gathered Black Knights chorused.

"Then we bring the proposal tomorrow, and set out immediately afterwards," Lelouch said.

"Long live Japan!" Tohdoh, Kallen, Asahina, Ohgi, and Chiba chorused.

"And all hail Emperor Lelouch!" Gino and Diethard said.

Euphy and Shirley beamed at him. Even Cornelia smiled a little.

Lelouch smiled. His plans had changed… but perhaps, this was for the better.

* * *

Suzaku Kururugi was in a bad mood.

Ok, he was almost always in a bad mood. There were three times of the day when he wasn't: one, when he had his morning call with Euphy. Two, when he spent his lunch visiting with Nunnally. And three, when he had his evening call with Euphy before they went to bed. He never pressed for many details on how Euphy was doing, but she did tell him very excitedly that Zero had given her very own knightmare, called Guinevere, and it had the best defenses Zero could give her.

It still pissed Suzaku off that Zero was putting Euphy in danger by giving her a knightmare.

Anyways, today's mood was especially bad because, after his early-morning call to Euphy, Anya showed up to inform him that Schneizel's arrival had been moved up. And this would be the first time Suzaku saw Schneizel since Euphy's departure from Japan about a week ago. Suzaku considered killing Schneizel here and now for his attacks on Euphy but figured that now would be a poor time and just leave Nunnally in danger.

The real question was whether Schneizel had determined if Suzaku helped in Kallen's escape or not. There was no proof at all that he had helped, since Lloyd and Cécile hadn't talked and Nunnally had declared to the police that there was no way that either Suzaku or Gino would've betrayed her and thus the empire.

That being said, Suzaku bet that Schneizel would figure out really quickly what Suzaku had overlooked in his panic over Euphy – that Zero basically owned him now.

The way things were going, Suzaku would have no choice but to side with the man who tried to murder his beloved lady against the man who tried to murder his beloved lady most recently.

It was awful.

And so was the meeting with Schneizel. Schneizel said nothing in front of Nunnally and Anya, other than, "unfortunate that the Black Knights' ace escaped with those defectors." When Nunnally asked who "those defectors" were, Schneizel smiled but walked away.

Suzaku spent the day spending as much time around Nunnally as possible. It seemed that Schneizel didn't want to let on that Euphy was still alive and with Zero. However, the confrontation had to happen, and most infuriatingly, Schneizel sent Kanon to get Suzaku.

"My apologies, Lord Kururugi, but Prince Schneizel would have a word with you, alone," Kanon said, interrupting a meeting Suzaku was holding with Nunnally about defenses in central Honshu.

"Of course, Kanon," Suzaku said, standing up and following Kanon. He activated a recording device he had in his pocket just in case of these meetings. His only hope of surviving Schneizel was counter-blackmail.

Suzaku didn't know or care if Kanon noticed the intense hatred Suzaku had for him in that moment. He could hear the recording that Max had shown him, the clear euphemism to dance around the fact that Kanon and Schneizel wanted Euphy dead.

But he said nothing and made sure his face was blank as he went in to his meeting with Schneizel. Then Kanon left them alone.

"I'm sorry to hear about what happened with Euphemia," Schneizel said, "kidnapped by her doctors and possibly a prisoner of Zero now. If the Black Knights didn't kill her."

Suzaku thought to his conversation with Euphy that morning – "I'm going to show you the Guinevere when you visit next time!" – and then looked down and said, "I'm heartbroken, Prince Schneizel."

"Euphemia was a wonderful woman, but to some animals she is nothing more than a wonderful bargaining chip," Schneizel said. He turned his back on Suzaku and walked over to the window.

Suzaku thought of pushing him out the window and emptying his gun into him, but… he didn't. He couldn't risk Nunnally. "That's true, sir," Suzaku said.

"You sound so dejected, Sir Kururugi," Schneizel said, turning to face Suzaku again. "Tell me… do you perhaps believe the rumor that I wanted to murder Euphemia?"

"That would be ridiculous, Prince Schneizel," Suzaku said calmly. This he had been practicing for. "You saved her life."

"Quite," Schneizel said. "I haven't just called you here to express my condolences, however. I have a request for you. An… extension on my favor, that I need fulfilled."

"And that is?" Suzaku said.

"It is almost time to remove my decrepit father from the throne," Schneizel said. "I have a means of trapping him within his elevator, I believe, and ensure someone who cares more about the empire is in. I have all of the knights of the round with me now save Bismarck, Anya, you, and the late Gino… will I have your support?"

Suzaku knew what to do. He knelt and bowed his head. "Yes, your majesty," Suzaku said.

"Excellent," Schneizel said. "Now, I have something to confer about with your old friend Nina. Please excuse me."

And like that, Schneizel left.

Suzaku started back towards the chamber with Nunnally when his phone began buzzing again. He looked down.

Lelouch was calling. "It's me," Suzaku said, answering, "what is it, Lelouch?"

"I need to meet with you, at where we first met," Lelouch said. "It's urgent."

"When?" Suzaku said.

"In half an hour."

"With who?"

"…Zero."

"I'll be there… old friend."

Suzaku excused himself to Nunnally and rushed to the meeting, at the old Kururugi shrine. He found Lelouch already waiting, dressed in his old school uniform. It was time to find out from Lelouch's own mouth if Lelouch and Zero were one and the same. He switched out his recorder – he didn't want to mix up his blackmail.

"Where have you been?" Suzaku said.

"Where would you guess?" Lelouch said.

Suzaku crossed his arms. "China," Suzaku said.

"Yes," Lelouch said, "Shirley and I had a wonderful time last night in China, actually."

Suzaku sighed. "What do you want?" Suzaku said.

Lelouch's composure shattered and he knelt down at Suzaku's feet. "Suzaku," Lelouch said, "I… I  _need_ you to save Nunnally. To protect her."

"Why don't you just order me?" Suzaku said, narrowing his eyes. "We both know you have Euphy."

"Do you honestly think I could endanger her?" Lelouch said. He shook his head and said, "Suzaku, all I have to go off of is your goodness. Please, protect my little sister!"

"Lelouch," Suzaku said, "I need to know. Did you cause the massacre?"

"I… yes," Lelouch said, "no matter what people say, no matter the theories, no matter what VV was doing – I still came with a gun. I still handed it to her. I still intended to turn her into a monster. And even when I decided to work with her – I instead made her into a beast." He put his face to the dirt and said, with Suzaku only barely able to understand it, "so I did it. I did it for my own power. My desires. My lust to be Japan's savior." He looked up and started laughing, tears in his eyes. "I did it all! It was all me! But please, my sins don't apply to Nunnally! Save her!"

"And the destruction of the JLF?" Suzaku said.

"I murdered them all, in my pursuit of power!" Lelouch said.

"Darlton?"

"A mere pawn, turned as part of my rebellion!" Lelouch laughed shakily, one hand on his side of his face, "that- that sin is on my own head, though! All of them, all of those sins, I would happily do again! It's all on me!" He started laughing hysterically, but Suzaku could see his tears.

And then Suzaku realized the truth. "You… you're lying," Suzaku said, stunned, "Euphy was right. You really didn't mean it."

"Believe what you will," Lelouch said pathetically, "just save Nunnally. Save her from Schneizel and the Emperor."

And at that moment, Suzaku saw Lelouch for what he was.

Not as a monster.

Not as a tyrant.

No.

He was just like the crazy woman who'd tried to kill him. A slave to his past. A slave to geass. "Lelouch," Suzaku said, reaching out to him, "you're not a monster."

"I am!" Lelouch said, recoiling.

"No," Suzaku said. "You mourn those who died. You mourn what you did to Euphy. What you did to me and Nunnally. You… you do care." He was stunned at himself. "Lelouch, I promise-"

And then a figure burst out of the overgrown shrine and tackled Lelouch to the ground. It was a Britannian soldier. "Excellent work, Sir Kururugi," Kanon said, clapping and walking out of the derelict shrine.

"Kanon?" Suzaku said, "what are you-"

"Search Sir Kururugi as well," Kanon said. A soldier stepped to Suzaku and Kanon said, "Lord Schneizel was correct. Your 'special connection' lead us right to Zero."

"Suzaku!" Lelouch said, glaring at him from the ground, "how dare you!"

"Lelouch!" Suzaku said, "I promise I didn't plan this! But I also promise I will protect Nunnally – because you can't." A cold mask easily slipped onto his face.

Lelouch's eye widened. He looked furious. "Take him away," Kanon said as the soldiers finished searching Suzaku and pulled out his recorder. "Ah, a recording device?"

"Yes, sir," Suzaku said, "for you and Emperor Schneizel to listen to. To broadcast once Charles is dead."

"I'm glad you understand," Kanon said. "His majesty will be pleased." He clicked the recorder off.

"SUZAKU!" Lelouch bellowed.

Suzaku walked up to Lelouch and knelt down. "Your acting is fine," Suzaku said, "but I serve Prince Schneizel."

"After what he tried to do to Euphemia!?"

"Those are lies," Suzaku replied. He turned his back on Suzaku and glanced up at the sky. And almost in spite of himself, smiled. A light pink knightmare with a white stripe around its head was floating in the sky by the normal Britannian knightmares. So, Lelouch had come with a backup plan.

The soldiers lead a struggling Lelouch past Suzaku. Guilford appeared and saluted Kanon and Suzaku. "All ready to take him to Lord Schneizel, sir," Guilford said.

"Excellent," Kanon said. He and Guilford began walking down the steps towards the car Lelouch was being crammed into. Suzaku started trailing, but slower.

Because just at that moment, a dark purple knightmare rocketed past the Britannian knightmares and smashed into the ground next to the car. It ripped the roof off of it, and then the light pink one floated down and Lelouch crawled into its outstretched hand. And then the purple knightmare pulled a staff from off of its back, and it activated into a spear of energy.

"Kanon Maldini!" the unmistakable voice of Cornelia said, "you have attempted to have my sister murdered and my brother executed!"

"Princess Cornelia?" Guilford said, gasping.

The purple robot's hatch opened, and Cornelia stepped out from it. "Guilford, I command you and all who are loyal with me to fight with the Black Knights. We have a new emperor to follow."

"Yes, your highness," Guilford said, bowing, and then he turned and slammed Kanon to the ground. Then he turned to Suzaku. "I'm sorry, Sir Kururugi, but you understand what it's like."

Suzaku nodded. He had no choice but to fight Guilford here. "I do, Sir Guilford."

Guilford drew his gun while Kanon retreated down the steps. "I hate to let him get away," Guilford said, "but I'm afraid I must serve my princess."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Suzaku replied. He rushed forward, grabbing Guilford's arm and directing his gun towards the forest while Guilford fired. Then he kicked the gun out of Guilford's arm. "As one knight to another."

"Suzaku Kururugi!"

Suzaku glanced up at Lelouch's voice. He was sitting on top of Euphy's robot's hand while Cornelia tangled with the other knightmares. "What is it, Zero?" Suzaku said as Guilford ran past him to a waiting knightmare.

"One man on his own cannot stand against the power of the Black Knights or the might of the true emperor of Britannia," Lelouch declared arrogantly. He pointed at Suzaku and said, "Cornelia, prepare to open fire."

"Yes, my lord," Cornelia said, turning her knightmare to point her energy lance at Suzaku.

And geass activated.  _Live_. Suzaku rushed past the steps, jumped past Guilford, and raced into the prison car Lelouch had been shoved into. He pushed aside its driver and floored the car, racing out of the way and barely avoiding the spear sinking into the ground the car had been waiting on. Geass dispelled, and Suzaku glanced in his rearview mirror to see a look of satisfaction on Lelouch's face.

Perhaps he realized what Suzaku was about to do.

He raced back towards HQ, and as he moved in he saw that, so far, Tokyo was untouched. He frowned. Why was that? Where were the Black Knights?

He arrived at HQ to find Schneizel, Nunnally, Lohmeyer, Kanon, Nina, Lloyd, and Cécile in a meeting room. "Do you have the recorder, Kanon?" Suzaku said as he entered.

Kanon felt around his cloak. "I appear to have dropped it," Kanon said.

Suzaku frowned. "You need to find it," he said, "it's Zero's confession."

"I'm surprised you're willing to sell out your oldest friend," Schneizel said.

"Betrayal is what I do," Suzaku replied.

"Would you betray me?" Nunnally said.

Suzaku was quiet for a second. "I don't think so," Suzaku said, "I made a promise not to."

Schneizel arched an eyebrow at this, but then he turned to Nina. "Nina, are you ready with the weapon?"

"It's ready for deployment," Nina said. She looked at Suzaku and said, "you should take it."

"Why me?" Suzaku said.

"You were Princess Euphemia's princess. This weapon will let you take revenge – kill all of the elevens in one blast!" Nina said, a look of madness in her eye. "You must take it!"

Suzaku looked from her to Schneizel. "What do you say, my lord?" he said.

Schneizel looked at Kanon, who nodded. Then he looked at Suzaku. "You have my blessing," he said. "Prepare to deploy, Sir Kururugi. The other knights have already engaged Black Knight forces, but you and Anya will have to hold Tokyo. I've left deployment to Bismarck for now."

"What about me?" Nunnally said.

"We're going to evacuate you," Lohmeyer said. "All of the planes should be in order."

"Quite," Schneizel said. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have something to see to." He, Nina, and Kanon left the room, Kanon on his comms link about the recording.

"Good luck, Suzaku," Nunnally said, and Lohmeyer wheeled her away.

"Lloyd, Cécile," Suzaku said, "do you know what that weapon is that Nina's giving me?"

"It's a bomb of some sort, that much I can tell you," Lloyd said. "Her original theory involved shooting atoms at each other to cause some sort of massive reaction, but I think it's evolved since then."

"The bomb would be very large and very powerful," Cécile said. "And very dangerous."

Suzaku nodded. "Is it unstable?" he said.

Lloyd shook his head. "If it's anything like the original plan, it would likely require a very specific structure to properly fire. Mess up the structure, and it won't work." He thought for a second and said, "in theory, it'd even be possible to counter such a machine by interfering with its structure, if it's set up like I'd guess. That being said…"

"Our specialties have never been bombs," Cécile said. "Sir Kururugi, do you want to deploy in the Lancelot Albion prototype?"

Suzaku shook his head. "Bring it out of the city and to the mountains, in case anything goes wrong. Get Nina too." He reached into his cloak and pulled out a gun. "And use this, if necessary."

"A gun?" Lloyd said as Cécile took it, "oh, my, what's going on?"

"Just trust me," Suzaku replied.

"Very well," Cécile said. "Go buy time with Schneizel while we escape."

Suzaku nodded and swung by his quarters to grab his second recorder. Then, activating it, he asked guards until he found Schneizel looking out over the city. "My lord," Suzaku said, kneeling behind him, "would you mind answering a question of mine?"

"Not at all," Schneizel said.

"Did you tell Luciano Bradley about geass?"

"Did I tell- oh, yes, indeed," Schneizel said, turning to face him. "That's what I've used against His Majesty, to turn so many to my side."

"Knowledge of geass?" Suzaku said.

Schneizel nodded. "I first learned of geass from the tapes of your conversations with Euphemia," Schneizel said. "From that, I learned of the massacre, of what happened with Lelouch and Zero, and while I listened I developed a theory on why the Emperor cares so little about 'mundane affairs'." He turned back towards the window and said, "His Majesty took off this morning for Japan. He will arrive in a few hours. I will launch a FLEIJA into Kamine Island and end his sorry reign, and overthrowing Odysseus will be excruciatingly easy."

"And you tell me this now?" Suzaku said.

"You're the last of the knights of the round to know, and in a way, you've been the most useful," Schneizel said. He turned and smirked at Suzaku. "You're a puppet of Zero, Kururugi. But still, you gave me knowledge of geass. Without you, I would've never thought to look into the countless examples of geass in our history. Now, so many things make sense: the rise of my father, the betrayal of Benjamin Franklin, the mysterious powers of Napoleon – geass, all of it."

"If I'm a puppet, then why do you trust me to defend Tokyo?" Suzaku said darkly.

Schneizel chuckled. "Has it occurred to you, Kururugi, that I have more than one FLEIJA? Just as Zero can kill you, I can launch a FLEIJA into Zero's base. If Euphemia is there, she will be less than ashes in seconds."

Suzaku recoiled. And then he fought to keep his fear on his face as he remembered that Euphy was with Zero. "I-I understand, my lord," Suzaku said.

"I predict that you will stay and fight to your death to protect Nunnally either way," Schneizel said. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" He walked past Suzaku. Suzaku wished he had his gun, but he'd given it to Cécile.

"So you're blackmailing me too…" Suzaku muttered once Schneizel left, "or at least, trying…"

And then the power went out. Suzaku looked outside. The power was failing across the city, and in the sky was a cloud of Black Knights.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've based what Lloyd said about FLEIJAs on real nuclear weapons. I know they're not strictly the same, but I figure this makes sense.


	9. Chapter 9

"Hey, Kallen."

"Hey, Gino. How does it feel to be out of prison?"

"Good."

Kallen was leaning against the door of Gino's quarters on the  _Ikaruga_. She was already dressed in her piloting suit and was watching as Gino finished getting outfitted. He'd been released from prison and promised to fight for Lelouch. "What made you turn in the end?" Kallen said. "Convienance?"

"No," Gino said. He brushed his outfit off – a modified version of his knight uniform that had a Black Knights insignia sewn on it too – and said, "I guess it's just… I've had a lot of time to think. I've loyally served the Emperor, but you and Ohgi are right."

"Right about what?" Kallen said, "not serving evil?"

"I want a world where I can be happy, and where my friends can be happy," Gino said. He sat down on his bunk and said, "but Suzaku won't be happy unless he can be with Princess Euphemia, and that won't happen with Schneizel or his majesty. And I… well, I guess I can't really be happy either."

Kallen smirked. "Are you that taken with me, Weinberg?" she said.

But Gino shook his head. "When I was 14," he said, "there was a young woman who served my family as a maid. An eleven. I… well, got along really well with her. _Too_ well. My father beat her and threw her out. I bet she supports Zero now, if she's still alive."

"Really?" Kallen said, stunned. Gino was much more somber than she'd ever seen him. Normally he was very optimistic, joking with her when she arrived at the prison in the mornings with food or to escort him to the mess hall for lunch or dinner, boasting about his piloting ability in the Tristan, or even sharing stories of his time at Ashford Academy or in his old life as a noble before joining the army. "Did you… run away to join the army?" Kallen said.

Gino nodded. "Remember when I said I wasn't close to my folks? That's why," he said. "They're high-ranking nobility, and it probably  _was_ part of why I became a knight of the round – why I'm knight of three, for that matter. But we're not close. They told me to act my place. Told me that a noble like me is only allowed to love another noble." He smiled and said, "maybe that's why I'm so drawn to you. You're someone like me, who rejected her nobility, but you've also rejected Britannia and everything it stands for."

"Then now?" Kallen said.

Gino looked at her. "The Emperor made the kind of world where schoolkids like us are forced to fight each other," he said, "Schneizel will continue it. I don't want that anymore." He looked up at the ceiling, almost as if he could see through the bulkheads and the ocean and look at the sky, "I've seen courage a lot, Kallen. But the most recent time I saw it was when Princess Euphemia revealed who she was to a whole bunch of people who thought she was a mass murderer. She did it for a better world, a world where people like her can truly be happy. So that's why I'm throwing in with Lelouch."

Kallen nodded. "Well, I'm glad to have you aboard, Gino," Kallen said. "You still up for that date after the war?"

Gino smiled at her. "You bet," he said, giving her a thumbs-up.

The PA clicked. "Attention, all forces," Tohdoh said, "Zero has given the signal. Move to battle stations and prepare for rapid ascent."

"Let's go," Kallen said.

She and Gino rushed through the halls of the  _Ikaruka_ until they reached the hangers. Kallen loaded into the Guren as Gino boarded his souped-up Tristan. "We're fighting together, right?" Gino called.

"Stick close," Kallen replied.

They launched a few minutes later into the dark skies over Tokyo. "What happened?" Gino said over her radio.

"Something Zero planned," Kallen replied, "I'm not sure, though-"

"Kallen, Gino! Provide cover to Jeremiah as he moves into the city! We need to clear a path to the government center," Zero said.

"Yes, my lord!" Gino replied.

"Of course," Kallen replied.

The two fell in behind Jeremiah's knightmare. "Do you think Suzaku will arrive?" Gino said to Kallen.

"I don't know," Kallen replied. "Can you tap into enemy comms?"

"One sec," Gino replied.

He was quiet for a second. There were still no knightmares in the air. "Heat signatures incoming," Jeremiah said.

The Guren's radar pinged and several signals appeared. In the darkness around Tokyo settlement, they barely registered. "It seems like most of the knightmares are out," Gino said. "Suzaku and Anya aren't registering yet…"

Kallen turned her scanners towards the HQ. The doors to the hanger bays were still shut. "We'll probably know when he's coming," Kallen said, "they need to open them manually."

One of the doors glowed red and then a reddish beam erupted from them. "Incoming," Jeremiah said. The Lancelot, followed by the Mordred, shot out. A huge team of other knightmares shot out, one after the other, all following in the wake of the Lancelot and the Mordred. "Kallen!" Gino said, "it sounds like Bradley's also being sent."

"Bradley's mine," Kallen replied darkly, "I want revenge."

"Sure thing, babe," Gino replied. "I'm gonna see if I can talk Anya down."

"Go ahead," Kallen replied. "But make sure it's external audio."

"Understood," Gino said.

Jeremiah halted, as did Kallen and Gino. Suzaku and Anya hovered in front of them. "So," Suzaku said, his voice being broadcast into the open air, "the Black Knights stole the Tristan."

"Nope," Gino replied, also externally. "I've gotta say, Suzaku. You know some very persuasive people."

"Geass?" Suzaku said.

"Of course not," Gino said, "this is of my own free will."

"What do you mean?" Anya said, her own voice being broadcast.

"I've decided to follow the new emperor," Gino said, "to make a world I can be proud of." He reached his hand out to Anya and Suzaku and said, "what do you say? Join us. It will make us all happier."

Suzaku said nothing. But Anya made a scoffing noise and said, "I knew you were a bad choice for the Knights of the Round." Mordred's cannon appeared and she took aim at Gino. "Die, traitor."

Kallen shot forward and pushed Gino out of the way. "Go!" she said, and the Tristan transformed and shot forward. "It's come to this, then," Kallen broadcast while the Morded kept firing at Gino.

"I'm sorry for this, Kallen," Suzaku said.

But Kallen didn't even have the chance to react as Jeremiah began opening fire on Suzaku. "Kallen!" Zero said, "begin clearing out the other knightmares. When Bradley arrives-"

"I'll get rid of him," Kallen said.

"Guys, they're sending another reinforcement," Gino said, "they've caught on that I've defected."

"Who is it?" Lelouch said.

"The Knight of One himself," Gino said.

Kallen frowned. "He's supposed to be practically invincible," she said. "How long before he arrives?"

"Thirty minutes at best," Gino replied.

"Understood," Kallen said.

She went to town on the other knightmares, crushing them easily. For Gino's sake, she tried to avoid outright killing them – they weren't guilty of much more than being Britannian, which was no longer a death sentence in her opinion.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah was about even with Suzaku and Gino was dancing circles around Anya. Kallen cleared the last of the Britannian no-names in time for Bradley and his Valkyrie Squad to come screaming in.

Kallen watched as the Valkyrie and Bradley bore down on Jeremiah. He wasn't out at all, but it freed up Suzaku from his attacks. He bolted towards Kallen.

"Kallen," he broadcast, "warn Zero that I'm carrying a weapon of awesome destructive might. If he doesn't surrender and end this war, we may have to use it."

"Do you truly believe that, Suzaku?" Kallen said.

Suzaku didn't reply. "He's warning us of what he has," Zero said, "he wants us to destroy it."

"You think so?" Kallen said.

"I'm sure," Zero replied.

She traded a few hits with Suzaku, but none of her blows were more than glancing. Anya, meanwhile, had disengaged from the fight with Gino and was firing now at Zero. Gino, himself, was tangled up in just trying to avoid attacks from Bradley. "Where's Jeremiah?" Kallen said.

"I had him crash to go help Sayoko," Zero replied. "There's tougher resistance than expected. And I couldn't use Rolo like I wanted to."

"Right," Kallen said.

She easily dodged past Suzaku and directed her scanners towards Zero and Anya. Anya was still firing, full-blast, and Zero's shields were still holding. Then Anya just… stopped. "Anya?" Gino said, "something's up. No more comms going in or out of the Morded-"

Gino barely dodged tethers shot out by the Valkyrie Squadron. "Need help?" Kallen said.

"Not yet," Gino replied, "but it looks like their attention's diverted-"

And then Zero was strung up. Bradley soared into the air above Zero and deployed his energy swords. "Euphemia, don't get in the way!" Zero said, and he deployed his cannon.

Then Bradley easily dodged his blast and punched his sword into the Shinkiro's cannon. "You can't raise shields like this, can you?" Bradley said, his voice full of that same mocking tone as when Kallen first met him. "Tell me, Zero, what do you value most? For that is what I enjoy taking."

Zero didn't reply, and Kallen shot forward. "Gino, stand by to intercept Suzaku or Anya," Kallen said.

"Understood."

With four lightning-fast strikes, the Valkyrie Squadron were destroyed with extreme prejudice, releasing the Shinkiro. "What!?" Bradley said as Kallen shot forward. He tried to dodge out of her way, but Kallen activated her arm extension and clamped her Radiant Wave Surger on his face.

"Hmph, you fool," Bradley said, and he pulled another energy sword off of his robot. It was destroyed in milliseconds by Kallen. "W-what!?"

"Question," Kallen said, "what do you value most? Your own pitiful life?" she spat.

"You think an Eleven can threaten me?" Bradley said, and he began laughing, his laughs broadcast into the cold night.

"Send me a postcard from hell," Kallen replied. She activated her Surger and watched in satisfaction as Bradley was boiled alive and exploded. His flaming wreck fell towards the earth.

"Kallen!" Gino said, "the Knight of One is here!"

"Kallen, hold him off!" Zero said. "Gino, assist her. Euphemia – take down Suzaku."

"Yes, sir," Kallen and Gino responded.

* * *

"Of course, Lelouch," Euphy said, and she shot up from the streets where she'd been fighting under Cornelia's eye. Her part in the plan had been that she, Cornelia, Guilford, and Cornelia's other loyalists would go in and start clearing out the older-model knightmares while they were abandoned so they couldn't be deployed as the Gefjun suppressors were taken out.

But she had watched with bated breath as she'd seen Suzaku and Kallen fighting in the sky, and all of the other battles. Now, it was her turn. She activated her float unit and hovered in front of Suzaku.

"So, it's come to this," Suzaku said. He had a large weapon system Euphy didn't recognize on his back, and a sword in his hand. His other was gone.

"So it has," Euphy replied, broadcasting her own voice. She grabbed her own sword and deployed it. "I don't want to hurt you."

"And I will do as Lord Schneizel commands," Suzaku replied.

Even though Euphy knew they were an act, the words still stung a little. "As you wish," Euphy replied, "Suzaku Kururugi."

They both rushed forward. Euphy knew that Suzaku was a better pilot than her in every conceivable way, but she had one advantage: he wasn't willing to hurt her. On the other hand, the same was true of her, but her training, as much as she'd gotten,  _was_ in knightmare dismemberment. "Sorry to do this to the Lancelot," Euphy said, and she blocked Suzaku's sword strike with her own sword. Then, letting one arm try and hold back Suzaku's, she grabbed a gun and blasted off one of the Lancelot's arms.

Well, tried to. Suzaku noticed what was up and quickly dodged, and his follow-up sword strike caught her by surprise and sliced her gun in half. She only had one left now. But she didn't want to use it yet, so she deployed her second sword. "I'm sorry, Black, but I'm just a better pilot than you," Suzaku said. "I'll give you this. You move better than I thought."

"Save it for the honeymoon, Kururugi," Euphy replied. She caught his sword in her twin ones and managed to yank it out of his grip. She watched as it plummeted towards the earth, and then she barely dodged a punch from him. Euphy shot underneath him and tried to slice the ends of his legs off. She missed.

"I'm looking forward to it," Suzaku replied. He kicked up, knocking one of Euphy's swords out of her hands, "I hope you're too."

Euphy giggled, in spite of herself. "Always the gentleman, Sir Kururugi," she said. She brought her other sword down on the Lancelot's right leg, completely missing it. "I'm sorry to do this, but… orders are orders."

"I understand," Suzaku replied. "Though I'd be a little more afraid if you actually hit me."

"Same here," Euphy replied.

* * *

Suzaku got an incredulous comm from Gino about ten minutes into his fight with Euphy. "Dude, are you ever gonna stop flirting with her? You're making  _me_ look bad," Gino said.

"I'm trying my hardest to fight her," Suzaku replied.

" _Trying your hardest_?" Gino said.

Suzaku took a half-hearted swing at Euphy. The thing was, Jeremiah had already damaged the Lancelot so much that he knew Euphy was in no real danger from him. Unless he used the FLEIJA, his VARIS wasn't going to be able to punch through Euphy's shields, and he wasn't about to use FLEIJA on his fiancée. And he had lost his swords. Basically, all he was stuck with was trying to punch or kick her.

"Suzaku, will you stop wasting our time," Schneizel said dryly, his face appearing in a screen on the HUD, "how are you having this much trouble with one knightmare?"

"It's a slippery one, sir," Suzaku replied, "but this way, Sir Bismarck only has two opponents, not four."

"While that  _is_ true, the fact is that your transmissions and broadcasts make me think that you know the pilot of this knightmare," Schneizel said. He narrowed his eyes and said, "did Zero seriously put his most valuable hostage on the front line?"

Suzaku reached over and deactivated the HUD screen. "Interference, sir," Suzaku said.

"Noted," Schneizel replied. "Although, Suzaku, I have a question for you."

"That is, sir?"

"Some time ago, on Kamine Island, you suddenly retreated after coming face to face with Zero," Schneizel said.

"I ran because I was afraid for my life," Suzaku said quickly. He fired a VARIS shot at Euphy, who easily dodged it.

"And then, after Euphemia became a hospital victim, you tried to kill her one time in self-defense," Schneizel said. "Based on how you act around Euphemia, this has always struck me as quite odd, almost as if you, too, are under geass."

Suzaku glanced at the FLEIJA launch system. "Euphy," he said, putting his external speakers to max volume, "you  _need_ to take out the weapons pack on my back,  _now_."

"Am I getting close, Sir Kururugi?" Schneizel said, "why, Kanon says that you fled from our arrest of Zero after Zero threatened your life. Could it be, perhaps, that you must live at all costs?"

Euphy had reacted almost instantly to Suzaku's plea and had flown behind him. "Euphy, now!" Suzaku shouted.

"Don't you see? The shot will miss. The FLEIJA will detonate. You will die," Schneizel said.

_Live_

Suzaku swerved out of the way of Euphy's shot and then another. "Suzaku, hold still!" Euphy said.

Suzaku dodged still more of Euphy's shots. She was slowly backing him towards the governmental headquarters. And Suzaku was doing his best to fight the geass, but he couldn't control himself. "Euphy…" he said, "please…"

"I'm trying!" Euphy said.

"Oh, how I wish I knew where Nina was now," Schneizel said, "she seems to have disappeared with Lloyd and Cécile. You didn't turn them against me too, did you?"

"They were no longer your servants, Schneizel," Suzaku grunted as he dodged another shot. The command to live was now fighting fiercely within his own mind against his desire to do what Euphy told him and to do what he told Euphy needed to be done. "They do what they want."

"It's unfortunate how many traitors will have to die here today," Schneizel said. "You, Euphemia, Nunnally, Lelouch, Cornelia, Gino… so many."

Nunnally? "What do you mean by that?" Suzaku said.

Schneizel smiled. "It won't be long," he replied.

Euphy stopped firing and flew in front of Suzaku. "Suzaku," she said gently, "I'm not going to hurt you. Please. Let me get rid of that bomb."

"She's going to kill you," Schneizel said, "Zero has turned her against you. Jeremiah can reset geass. He's used that to make the perfect assassin."

"What're you saying?" Suzaku said.

"Simple. I command you to live," Schneizel said as Euphy raised her gun again, "and the only way is by  _using_ FLEIJA."

_Live_

Suzaku's hand shot to the FLEIJA control, which he snapped up and prepared to push in the button. "Suzaku!"

He stopped when he heard Euphy's voice. A powerful headache surged in his head, sending searing pain shooting through his mind. But he wouldn't press the button. "Euphy," he whispered.

"Don't worry, Suzaku," Euphy said, "don't you remember when I told you to love me? And how I told you that I love you?"

"Y-yeah," Suzaku said. His hands inched towards the button. He grabbed his arm with his other arm, anything to stop the button press as geass tried to force him.

"It's the only way, Sir Kururugi," Schneizel said.

Suzaku fixed a look of intense hatred at the HUD, where Schneizel's face had reappeared, and headbutted it, smashing it. "I won't kill her!" he said.

"Oh, it won't be you," Schneizel's voice replied.

"Suzaku!" Euphy said, "listen to me! A few weeks ago, Kallen asked me why I loved you. I… wasn't really able to answer her then. But I've realized that I still love the things about you that I loved back when then – your stubbornness and your kindness and your strength! But there's something else!"

"What- what's that?" Suzaku said. He was almost at the button…

"Your loyalty," Euphy said. "And now, I call on that loyalty – Suzaku Kururgi, as your princess, I hereby command you to defy geass!"

And the headache intensified, but the urge left. "Yes, my lady," Suzaku said. He closed the plastic and then smashed the hinge with his fist. "Go, now! Schneizel may have a way to remote fire!"

"Right!" Euphy said. She raced to the back, and Suzaku heard a gunshot.

He watched as the FLEIJA crumbled into glowing material that fell apart as it plummeted ."Thank God," Suzaku said.

"No matter," Schneizel said, "we have more, Suzaku Kururugi." That channel blipped off.

"They're probably on the  _Avalon_ ," Suzaku said. He searched through his cape and found his second recording device. "Euphy, I'm opening up a channel to you. Transmit these recordings to Cornelia. She'll know what to do with them."

"Right," Euphy said. Suzaku plugged in his recordings and then noticed the radio was muted on a transmission.

He activated it. "-Shinozaki of the Black Knights, we're attempting to take off with the Viceroy but all evacuation planes are inoperable, I repeat, we need support  _now-"_

Suzaku looked overhead and saw the  _Avalon_ looming against the moon. "Euphy," he said, "we need to go rescue Nunnally."

"Transmission done," Euphy said. Suzaku watched with satisfaction as Bismarck disengaged from his fight with Kallen and Gino and flew off. Then he turned towards the HQ building. "You know the way, right?"

"Right," Suzaku replied. He engaged the Lancelot's flight system to go at its max speed and raced towards HQ. "We don't have long."

"Til what?"

"Til Schneizel launches his own," Suzaku said. "Gino, you and Kallen attack the  _Avalon_!"

"Right!" Gino said.

Suzaku took out his VARIS. "Sayoko," he said into the radio, "I need a lock on your location!"

"I can send one," came the voice of Jeremiah. A location appeared on Suzaku's radar. He aimed the VARIS squarely at it and then punched through floor after floor of HQ, Euphy right behind him.

He emerged in a hanger where Sayoko, Jeremiah, and Nunnally in Jeremiah's arms were waiting. They were at the bottom of a shaft leading to a hanger, and the plane looked thoroughly dead. "Euphy, surround us with your shields," Suzaku said, "we need to go fast and that'll keep them safe."

"Right!" Euphy said. Suzaku scooped up the three and Euphy deployed their shields. Then the three began racing up and out of the building just as something fired from the  _Avalon_.

"Brace!" Gino yelled, " _now!_ "

"Suzaku!" Euphy yelled as the Guinevere latched onto the back of the Lancelot, "hurry! You need to live!"

And this time, as geass activated, Suzaku smiled and rocketed upwards at a speed he would  _never_ do. But he trusted Euphy to keep the shields up as they rocketed up and away from what sounded like the tiniest pulse… and then a massive energy surge emerged and all of the screens began going out as they tried to render a blue sphere behind him.

They rocketed faster and faster away from the FLEIJA explosion, only barely escaping it and then being thrown through a cloud by the FLEIJA's shockwave. And then warning screens began appearing across the cracked HUD.  _Yggdrasil Drive damaged_ they all read. "Euphy!" Suzaku said, his geass flaring up more as he tried to pry open his cockpit, "we need help!"

"Don't worry!" Euphy said. She detached and took Jeremiah, Sayoko, and Nunnally from Suzaku. Then Suzaku crawled out of the Lancelot and jumped over to the Guinevere and slid down to take Nunnally from Jeremiah.

"Suzaku, what happened?" Nunnally said.

"We saved you," Suzaku replied. He watched the Lancelot plummet to the earth, then looked back at the FLEIJA explosion as the blue dissipated.

All that was left was a perfectly circular crater, half-settlement and half-ghetto. The Black Knights' flagship was askew, and what was left of the Black Knight and Britannian forces were drifting in the sky.

* * *

Asahina's float unit had been damaged in the battle, and he'd just finished talking to Kinoshita before his unit had exploded. "Zero," Asahina said, "advancing on Britannian HQ!"

"Asahina," Zero said, "you need to get out of there,  _now_!"

"What?"

"Britannia just launched something-"

Comms cut off as a bright blue light suddenly appeared in the night sky. "Long live Japan," Asahina whispered before the light consumed him.

* * *

It was good to be fighting alongside Guilford and his squadron again. "Bogies at twelve!" Guilford said, and Cornelia whipped her knightmare around and shot several knightmares out with her lance. She watched in satisfaction as they ejected – it wouldn't do well to kill so many of Lelouch's future subjects.

"Viceroy!"

It was of Darlton's sons. "What is it?" Cornelia said.

"Schneizel's ordering all units to fall back!" he said.

"Understood," Cornelia said, "Lelouch!"

"I heard," Lelouch said.

Cornelia looked up at the  _Avalon_ drifting serenely in the moonlight. Then something launched out of it and towards the city. Towards them. "All units, fall back!" Guilford ordered.

But they were too close. Cornelia tried to get out of there, but she was too close. "Guilford, everyone!" she said, "save yourself!"

"No, my lady!" Guilford said. He flew his knightmare into Cornelia, pushing her out of the way as the weapon detonated and a blue energy sphere destroyed one after another of her men.

Cornelia watched helplessly as Guilford pushed her out of the way of the blue sphere, and then as his ejection seat's parachutes were shredded by the shockwave. "Guilford!" Cornelia said, and she plunged towards him, catching his ejection seat right mid-air. She looked back at the explosion. "Your deaths will  _not_ be in vain," she said. "My loyal men."

* * *

Dr. Eberhardt and Dr. Westinghouse watched the FLEIJA from the  _Ikaruka_. "W-what is that?" CC asked them.

"A terrible weapon," Eberhardt whispered.

" _Dieu ait pitié_ ," CC whispered back.

* * *

Euphy dropped them off with Lloyd and Cécile, who had a shocked-looking Nina at gunpoint. Then Euphy came out of the Guinevere, her comms on her ear. "They're here, Lelouch, one second," Euphy said. She took her comms off and gave it to Nunnally, who was in Jeremiah's arms, then she walked over to Suzaku and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you for listening to me," she said.

"Thank you for saving me," he replied. Then they both looked out at the crater.

The happiness from Euphy saving him and Nunnally and the others vanished.

"How many people?" Euphy said quietly. Her smile from earlier was gone.

"I don't want to know," Suzaku replied.

"All done," Nunnally said, Jeremiah carrying her back. Euphy took her comms back, and the Shinkiro landed a few seconds later. Lelouch jumped out from the cockpit as soon as he could, threw his helmet to the side, and scooped Nunnally from Jeremiah's arms into a deep hug. "Nunnally!" Lelouch said, his eyes closed, "you're ok!"

"L-lelouch?" Nunnally said, "is that you?"

"Yeah," Lelouch said, "yeah, it's me."

"Lelouch," Nunnally said, hugging him back, "I'm so glad."

"Me too," Lelouch said, "me too."

Nina, meanwhile, had realized that Euphy was there. "Pr-princess Euphemia?" she said, "I… I…"

"What have you done, Nina?" Euphy said, turning to face her.

"I made the bomb for you," Nina said, "I… it was only supposed to kill elevens… not Britannians too…"

"And is it only a tragedy that  _Britannians_ were killed?" Euphy said coldly.

"N-no!" Nina said, "I didn't realize… what it would really do…"

"The whole world hates you now," Lloyd said cheerfully, "isn't that wonderful?"

Nina clutched her head. "I-it was all for Princess Euphemia," Nina moaned.

Euphy had nothing to say to her.

"Let's relocate to the  _Ikaruka_ ," Lelouch said, "Schneizel is sure to try something."

Everyone else nodded. Up above, the  _Avalon_ was headed towards the  _Ikaruka_ too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Battle of Tokyo ended up being shorter than I remember, but the main thing is the Euphy/Suzaku scene re: Schneizel and geass. That was another favorite part of mine.
> 
> Also, what Gino talks about with his maid is something originally from supplementary material.


	10. Chapter 10

The surviving Black Knight and Britannian forces were forming into semi-battle lines in the sky, but neither side looked like it wanted to continue the fight. The  _Avalon_ had almost docked with the  _Ikaruka_. Cornelia cut in on comms. "Euphy, did you get hit by the blast?"

 

 

"No," Euphy said. She looked again at the crater and, again, her heart sank. "Cornelia… did you get hurt?"

"Guilford needs medical attention, and I… I lost my men," Cornelia took a deep breath and said, in a steadier voice, "but I'm fine, thanks to Guilford," Cornelia replied. "But the people…"

Euphy didn't say anything and looked one last time at Tokyo before embarking the  _Ikaruka_. She disembarked from the Guinevere and ran over to Nunnally in the Shinkiro's hands. "Here, Nunnally," Euphy said, pulling Nunnally down and cradling her, "let's get you a wheelchair."

"Euphy," Nunnally said, "have I… made you proud?"

"Huh?"

"The SAZ," Nunnally said. "I know you didn't get the chance… but you did the right thing, right? So… so I did it too."

"Thank you for believing in me then, Nunnally," Euphy said, hugging her. A Black Knight technician ran up with a wheelchair that Euphy put her in.

Lelouch emerged from the Shinkiro, his mask back on and walked over towards the  _Avalon_ , which had finished docking. Schneizel had disembarked, wearing what looked like sunglass-goggles. His sunglass-protected eyes swept across Lelouch and his group – and he smiled. "I see a large collection of traitors. Do you just like recruiting Britannians, Zero?" Schneizel said lightly.

"From what I understand, Prince Schneizel," Lelouch replied, walking up to him, "you enjoy attempting to murder imperial princesses."

Schneizel smirked. "Are you sure you want to go down that route, Zero?"

Lelouch glanced at him. "We'll see," he replied. "I take it Ohgi approved you coming on board?"

"Approved? He had no choice," Schneizel said. "I'm afraid I have little time, Lelouch. The Emperor arrived in the middle of our battle. I would like to kill two birds with one stone."

"Then why waste your time here?" Lelouch said.

Schneizel smiled but said nothing.

"Zero!" Ohgi said, running into the hanger, "Schneizel demanded a meeting with upper leadership-"

Lelouch nodded, then turned and looked at Euphy and the others. "Cornelia, I count you as part of upper leadership. And Nunnally, you should come too. Hear what our illustrious guest has to say."

"And me?" Suzaku said.

"That's for you and Euphemia to decide," Lelouch replied. He turned and began walking away with Schneizel and his entourage. "We will meet in conference room 1, Ms. Black."

"Understood," Euphy said. Cornelia wheeled Nunnally away, and Euphy turned to Suzaku. "Do you want to go?"

"In a little bit," Suzaku replied. He grabbed Euphy's hand and said, "I'm just glad to be with you again."

"We should go talk somewhere more private," Euphy said, "I don't want the crews to know who I am."

Suzaku nodded. The two of them walked into the depths of the ship, passing a few Black Knights who looked curious, but didn't say anything. Then they ducked into an empty conference room, and Euphy grabbed Suzaku and kissed him deeply. They broke off, and Suzaku smiled. "What's that for?" he said.

"Forgiving Lelouch," Euphy said, "you saved Nunnally."

"I was going to save her, regardless of what Lelouch did," Suzaku replied.

"Enough to order Nina kidnapped, send Lloyd and Cécile to safety, and blast a hole to the hanger?" Euphy said.

"Don't forget defying geass," Suzaku said. "Now we just have to deal with Schneizel." Euphy frowned, and Suzaku sighed. "Euphy, I know he's your brother-"

"I know," Euphy said, "I just… I don't like it."

Suzaku hugged her. "I'm sorry that's how things are," he said, "but when did you get Lelouch to agree to your plan?"

Euphy explained about the meeting. "That's why he's so confident…" Suzaku said. "There's nothing that Schneizel can hold over his head…"

"Yeah," Euphy said. "Now, Sir Kururugi – shall we go?"

"We shall," Suzaku said, taking her hand.

* * *

Schneizel had been smart enough to put protective glasses on all of his men, including himself and Kanon. But Lelouch had nothing to fear. The only people at the meeting that hadn't already heard the whole thing were Tamaki and Nunnally. High command was gathered, minus Kallen, who had an important task, and Asahina, who was just… gone. The two sides sat in awkward silence, with a bit of small talk between Kanon and Gino, until Suzaku and Euphy arrived.

Then Lelouch leaned back and said, "very well, Schneizel. You forced your way here by threatening to unleash more FLEIJAs. I am grateful for one thing, though: you've just eclipsed my massacre in the minds of the Japanese, which I must thank you for."

And with this one phrase, Schneizel was clearly off his game. "'Your' massacre?" Schneizel said, "do you want to be so cavalier, Zero?"

"We already know of the massacre," Tohdoh said, crossing his arms, "of Zero's guilt and attempt to make the most of a bad situation. We also know of the boy called VV."

Schneizel smiled. "I'm afraid that VV wasn't anywhere near Japan when the massacre came," Schneizel said.

But then Suzaku snorted. "Why bother, Schneizel?" Suzaku said, with all the contempt in his voice that Lelouch usually heard him talk about Zero in. "VV was the one who told me about geass. He was there."

Schneizel frowned. "Then surely you don't want your identity revealed, Zero?" Kanon said.

"We already know he's Lelouch vi Britannia," Rakshata said. "Do you have anything actually  _new_ to say?"

"Huh!?" Tamaki said, jumping up, "wait, Zero is-"

"You weren't important enough to come to our meeting about this," Ohgi said, glancing at Tamaki. "Sorry."

"What!?"

Lelouch undid his mask and put it on the table. "I see, Schneizel," Lelouch said, "that you're also not dumb enough to appear near me without eye protection. Clever."

"I think of myself as a clever man," Schneizel said. "Even now, I have my failsafe ready. But I find it hard to believe that the Black Knights would stick with a murderer like you."

"Oh, Schneizel," Lelouch said, "the only one I could never beat at chess. But this time, your pieces revolted. You wanted to use the Black Knights against me, but that has failed."

"I have a recording proving that you alone were behind the massacre, though," Schneizel said calmly, "and besides – what if Zero brainwashed you into loyalty?"

"Zero has done no such thing," Diethard said, "we followed him of our own free will."

"And that recording was Lelouch telling me what he thought I wanted to hear," Suzaku said.

"We've seen, first-hand, Zero-sama's grief," Kaguya said. "And we won't stop following him until Japan is free and the United States of Britannia is formed!"

"The what?" Schneizel said.

Euphy stepped up to the table. "We've decided to install my dear brother as the emperor," Euphy said.

Tamaki turned and stared at Euphy. "Wait, you're not – you're princess massacre!"

Euphy frowned. "Don't call her that!" Suzaku snapped.

"Tamaki, not now," Lelouch said, "she's no danger to us. And as a matter of fact-" he glanced at Diethard, who nodded. "-it won't be long before that no longer matters."

"What are you talking about?" Schneizel said, standing up.

"As soon as Britannia withdraws, we're going to broadcast the truth about the massacre, and about geass, and about VV," Diethard said.

Schneizel frowned. "How about this, then?" he said. "I will give you Japan and withdraw with my FLEIJAs. All you have to do is give up Zero."

The Black Knights all looked at each other, and then at Lelouch – who smirked. "Are you that desperate, Schneizel?" Lelouch said, "has it not occurred to you that I would order the fighting over the rest of Japan to resume?"

"What?" Schneizel said, "the cease-fire-"

"Is only in effect in Tokyo," Lelouch said, "and your treachery against the Emperor has been forwarded to the Empire. Bismarck has withdrawn to prepare for your attempted coup."

"I already know that," Schneizel said.

"And we've broadcast it to the rest of the empire," Diethard said.

But instead of grimacing at this news, Schneizel started… laughing. "Excellent," he said, "another condition met. Thank you for pulling the trigger. My generals already know what to do," he said.

"Regardless," Suzaku said, "I was under the impression the viceroy of Area 11 was Nunnally vi Britannia." He looked at her and said, "what do you say, Viceroy?"

"I declare that Area 11 is returned to Japan," Nunnally said.

"Hmph," Schneizel said as his men stood as well, "very well. The Sakuradite is of little use to me now anyways…"

"And why's that?" Kaguya said.

Schneizel smiled serenely. "You think I haven't been building up a store of it for months?" he said, "and besides. There are new mines in Cambodia and Cameroon and even near Moscow. Old  _Fuji-san_ is useless to me."

"Then what will you do now, Schneizel?" Lelouch said, "Japan will be free, and the Emperor will try and kill God. You'll just be fighting a pointless civil war."

"One that I shall win," he said. "And now…" He pulled out a remote that he pressed down. "I go to deal with the Emperor. Thank you for your hospitality, though I'm disappointed in your willingness to follow a monster."

He and his soldiers left. "Why don't we kill them now, Zero?" Diethard said.

"He can remotely activate FLEIJA," Suzaku said. "But what was that button? The failsafe?"

And then the  _Ikaruka_ shuddered. "What's going on!?" Lelouch said as the  _Ikaruka_ started tipping to the side before righting itself.

"A shockwave of some sort," Rakshata said.

"Was it a FLEIJA?" Ohgi said.

"We'd be dead if it was one here," Lelouch grunted. "Kallen should've messed with Schneizel's-"

Rakshata started saying something, but Lelouch missed it when he noticed Rolo, who walked into the room and stood by the door. He stared across the room at something. Lelouch looked at where he was staring – at Nunnally. He looked away when Lelouch noticed.

"Wouldn't they have guards, though?" Suzaku said shortly after Lelouch returned his attention to the conversation.

"Guards won't do anything if they think time has stopped," Rolo said.

"You wouldn't have much time, though!" Euphy said.

Rolo smiled. "Not if the doctors gave me something that keeps my heart beating," he said.

"But what was that shockwave? And what did you do to Schneizel's FLEIJAs?" Euphy said.

"Oh, we just messed with their timers a little," Lloyd said, appearing in the doorway and shrugging. "When he tries to shoot those bombs at Kamine Island, they'll detonate midair instead. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to mess with his missiles. So they'll probably just hit nothing, not the  _Avalon_."

"And the shockwave?" Kaguya said.

Lloyd frowned. "About that…"

"You can see from outside," Rolo said. "Also, Lelouch, we've picked up a straggler. Anya Alstreim flew on the dock and disembarked just a little bit ago."

"Anya, huh?" Lelouch said, and he glanced at Rolo. "Can you go see what she wants?"

"Yes, Lelouch," Rolo said, and he left.

"Zero," Ohgi said, "what are we going to do about Schneizel now?"

"We send out the rest of Suzaku's recordings, including the one from right after they apprehended me," Lelouch said.

"The what?" Suzaku said.

"Your recording," Lelouch said. He smiled and said, "your acting was perfect, Suzaku. It's hard to believe we didn't plan it."

"I don't understand," Suzaku said, "Kanon stole that recording device."

"When Guilford knocked him down, the recording device slipped out," Cornelia said. "We retrieved it and transmitted what it had to the  _Ikaruka_."

"Then Schneizel didn't even have the recording?" Ohgi said.

"We returned it," Cornelia said. "Kanon found it where he'd dropped it and didn't think anything more of it."

"Then… is Japan independent again?" Ohgi said.

"Japan is independent," Lelouch said. "But… 35 million lost their lives, at least."

"And that FLEIJA thing? Who made that?" Tamaki said.

Lelouch glanced first at Euphy, who shook her head, and then at Lloyd, who gave an apologetic look. Then he looked back at Tamaki. "Prince Schneizel is cleverer than I thought, to make a weapon like that," Lelouch said. "We have no way of knowing how many he has, but we do know that he just murdered millions. I want that information broadcast through the whole UFN – with the news of VV and geass in Japan."

Lelouch strode out of the room. "Where are you going now, Zero?" Ohgi called.

"To stop the Emperor," Lelouch said.

He walked away from the conference room, towards his office. He'd been wracking his brain all night over what to do to stop Charles. So far, he'd come up with nothing.

"Lelouch!"

Lelouch turned to see Suzaku. "What is it?" Lelouch said.

"What about the shockwave?" Suzaku said.

"Rolo said we could see it outside," Lelouch said, and together they walked outside.

In the darkness, what looked like a mountain was burning in the distance, the occasional explosion going off. "That… that's Mt. Fuji," Suzaku whispered. "He… he blew it up."

"It wasn't useful to him anymore," Lelouch said. "So he destroyed the symbol of Japan."

They watched Mt. Fuji burn for a few minutes, thick black smoke from burning Sakuradite being illuminated by moonlight. "No," Suzaku said, "this will be our new symbol."

"What do you mean?"

"Mt. Fuji is a volcano," Suzaku said, "and now it's been cleansed from Britannia with blood… just like Tokyo."

Lelouch nodded. "A symbol of the millions who died today," Lelouch said. "Long live Japan."

Suzaku nodded. They watched Mt. Fuji burn for a few more minutes. "Lelouch," Suzaku finally said, turning to face him, "the Emperor is on Kamine Island," Suzaku said. "What are you going to do?"

"Kill the emperor and come back safely," Lelouch said.

Suzaku nodded. "Promise you'll come back, for Nunnally's sake," Suzaku said. Lelouch nodded, and then Suzaku walked away.

Lelouch watched him go and said quietly to himself, "But I'm sorry I'll have to break that promise, Suzaku. Please watch Nunnally for me."

He went to his office, where CC was clutching her doll and looking at him wide-eyed. "Where is master going?" CC said.

"To stop the man who took your memories," Lelouch said. He took a deep breath and began writing a letter to Nunnally and the others. When it was done, he signed it and placed it on his bed.

He turned to go and found himself face-to-face with Shirley, her hands on her hips, and an angry look on her face. "What are you doing, Lulu?" Shirley said.

"I'm going to stop the Emperor," Lelouch said. "I might not come out alive."

"Might not? Or are planning not to return?" Shirley said.

"What are you talking about?"

"That letter," Shirley said, pointing at it. "That's you giving up. That's you thinking you'll never come back."

"I'm going to trap myself with the Emperor. While I'm there, I should be able to stop him from escaping," Lelouch said. "For at least long enough for Schneizel to find some other way to destroy the island. Then we'll both be stuck there."

Shirley stepped forward and put a hand on his chest. "Don't say that, Lulu," Shirley said, "there's always another way."

"Not this time," Lelouch said.

"Is this about atonement?" Shirley said.

"No, this is about protecting the ones I love," Lelouch said. "Surely you know that."

"And breaking our hearts!" Shirley said.

Lelouch stepped closer to her and drew her into a kiss. When they broke away, Lelouch said, "is there anything I can do for you before I go? Anything at all?"

"Yeah," Shirley said, "come back."

"Shirley-"

"I'm not accepting you staying behind, Lulu!" Shirley said. "I-I don't know how to trap the emperor with you escaping, but there  _has_ to be a way. Please, the world needs you! Only you can lead us against Schneizel!"

"Shirley-"

"Nunna and Euphy need their brother!"

"Shirley, please-"

Shirley threw her arms around Lelouch and pulled him close to her. "And I… I want you, Lelouch. I want you to be part of my family," she said quietly.

"Family?" Lelouch replied, equally quietly.

"Please, Lelouch, find a way," Shirley said.

Lelouch nodded. "I'll try." He looked at the letter and said, "if I don't come back, please, give that letter to Nunnally."

"Alright."

"I love you, Shirley."

"I love you too, Lelouch."

Lelouch felt a little guilty, seeing Shirley wiping the tears from her eyes, and he looked away so she couldn't see the tears stinging his own. But he had given his word to her. He would try another way. Another way to defeat or entrap an immortal.

He mounted the Shinkiro and took off. "Kamine island," he mused aloud, "time for us to meet again, father."

* * *

Suzaku watched Anya and CC get in the Mordred and take off after Lelouch. It was none of his business, however. None of the three seemed in danger as two large balls of blue light appeared on the horizon towards Kamine Island. Then the tiny speck that was the  _Avalon_ disappeared into the night as well.

"So, off Zero goes to kill an immortal," Max said. Suzaku glanced to his side and saw Max, his arms crossed, watching the Mordred dip into the night as the FLEIJA blasts receded. "And off Marianne goes to fulfill her plan."

"Off… what are you talking about?" Suzaku said.

"To end the world and remove all lies," Max said, "that's what it is, right?"

"How would you know?" Suzaku said.

Max turned to Suzaku, and a symbol – the symbol of geass, that VV and CC had – started glowing on his head. "I'm a little older than I let on," Max said, "although – it really was just luck I was on the  _Avalon_."

"Are you part of their plan?" Suzaku said.

Max smiled. "In a way. It's taken me years of probing. But I  _was_ the doctor who preserved Marianne's body. I was the one who operated on Nunnally and preserved as much of her legs as possible. And I acted like my mind had been rewritten by the Emperor when he tried to change events."

"And Julie?"

"My long-standing companion," Max replied.

"Do you think that Lelouch is in danger?" Suzaku said, staring off at the horizon.

"Almost certainly, if not from the Emperor, then from Schneizel," Max said. "But you need a code user to power your way into the world of C's or a thought elevator. And you, my friend, are not one."

Suzaku looked at Max and the symbol on his head. "Well, then, doctor," he said, "are you volunteering yourself?"

"Your wish is my command," Max replied. They started towards the Lancelot Albion prototype.

"Why are you doing this?" Suzaku said.

"Because I don't much like the sound of the apocalypse," Max said. They got in the Lancelot and Suzaku began taking flight. "And VV is an old enemy of me."

"Then your name – is it Max?"

"MM, EE, I don't care," Max said dismissively. The Lancelot shot out of the Black Knights' flagship and off towards Kamine Island. "The important thing is stopping this apocalypse and bringing about our last vision."

"Your what?"

"The United States of America," Max replied.

Max said nothing more as they approached Kamine Island. Bright lights were already set up, and the Mordred was crashed on the sand. The Shinkiro was nowhere in sight. "What should I do?" Suzaku said.

"Follow your heart," Max said.

They landed and Suzaku looked over and saw Charles waiting. "Where's Lelouch?" Suzaku said.

"I don't know," Max replied. "Go ahead. I'll do backup."

Suzaku nodded and dismounted. He walked up to Charles and knelt. "Your Majesty," he said, "I assume you've heard of Schneizel's treachery."

"I have indeed," Charles said. "And I have heard of Lelouch and his sisters'. Tell me, Suzaku Kururugi, Knight of Seven – who do you serve for now?"

"For now?" Suzaku said.

"Soon, there will no longer be these petty political squabbles," Charles replied. "Did you stop Schneizel from destroying the island from these bombs?"

"For that, you may thank your son," Suzaku said. He grasped his sword, and in one fluid strike tried to bring it down on Charles.

He was stopped by Bismarck. "I see your mind is made up," Charles said, "for Lelouch."

"All hail," Suzaku replied. He tried to push into Bismarck, but Bismarck gave him a wicked grin.

"Don't think I'm some pushover, Kururugi," Bismarck said. His closed eye began glowing, and instantly  _live_ shot through Suzaku's mind.

Suzaku tried to fight through  _live_ , but he retreated as soon as the Emperor's flagship started firing on his own knightmares. Suzaku was forced back by Bismarck and only barely dodged a crater left by an enemy shell before landing in a new one entirely. More shots hit the beach, and sand rained down on his head.

When the geass dissipated, Suzaku crawled out of the crater to see that Charles was gone and a whole lineup of Britannian knightmares had their spears in an arch of glory formation. "There you are!" Bismarck barked, and again  _live_ fired.

Suzaku flipped past Bismarck, grabbing his sword and barely stopping another blow. He was almost to the Lancelot, and again  _live_ tried to take command. But it was too late as Bismarck struck the sword out of Suzaku's hands and lunged in for the kill.

But then Max jumped in front and took the sword. "The family doctor," Bismarck sneered, "what are you doing here?"

"Just seeing…" Max said, sliding up the sword, "what sort of man you are…"

He grabbed Bismarck's head and Bismarck started convulsing. Suzaku held up his sword. "No!" Max said, "get to the thought elevator now!"

Suzaku rushed past him to see Anya and CC at the geass door. Bomb marks were scorched on it. "CC?" Suzaku said, "Anya?" He looked between them and they looked at him – Max had said that Marianne was there, and then he said, "which of you is Lady Marianne?"

"What are you doing here?" Anya said. How she spoke was different. Suzaku looked at her closer and realized her eyes were a deep red, like a few weeks ago. "I get the feeling you didn't come to help out Charles." She reached into Anya's cloak, then sighed. "And I forgot my gun."

"So it's you," Suzaku said, crossing his arms.

Anya cocked her head, then nodded. "At the moment," she said, "I am the mother of Lelouch and Nunnally. Marianne." She twirled and bowed, before returning her attention to the door. "I suppose I can leave you be for now, Sir Kururugi."

Suzaku looked up at the door. "What is this?" Suzaku said.

"The entrance to C's world," CC said, "the collective unconsciousness. A collective of people's minds with memories. The sea of transmigration. The great consciousness. Some refer to it as God."

"Was that what I saw when we met at Narita?" Suzaku said.

CC nodded. "Well, there it was mixed with your personal consciousness," she said. "I'm merely guessing since I didn't see what you saw."

"I'm sure you would have enjoyed it," Suzaku said.

"Do you think I'm that shallow, Suzaku?" CC replied, frowning. "Anyways, geass, C's world, god – it's people. Their masks are the collective unconsciousness. Windows that open into their minds and memories. And the minds of people are-"

She cut off as Anya – Marianne – sighed loudly. "Forget it," she said, "it's too messed up for me to do. CC, would you please?"

"Do you really plan to go in?" CC said.

"Yes, of course. Charles has been waiting for us, after all," Marianne said. "This would've been so easy if only you'd given him your code." CC looked away from Marianne. "I'll go first, all right?"

CC nodded. Marianne put her hand against the door, and then… Anya's body collapsed to the ground, with Suzaku only barely catching her. "What're you doing?" Suzaku said as CC moved her own hand towards the door.

CC paused. "You know, Suzaku?" CC said, "you and I, we're really similar."

"Similar?"

"In the way that we both wish to die and yet are unable to."

Suzaku frowned. Wish to die? Once, that  _had_ been true. In that split second after Euphy had almost died, before Max told her she'd lived, he'd wanted nothing more than to kill Zero and then die himself. And many times since then – his shame over betraying his father or Britannia, his humiliation in letting Zero take Gino, and most importantly, when he was convinced that he would just kill Euphy again – he had wished for death, at least to some degree. But now? Now… "Are you sure?" he finally said.

"What do you mean?"

"I found a reason to live," Suzaku said. "I don't want to die anymore. I want to live."

"Really?" CC said, "no guilt over your father or everything else that's happened?"

Suzaku stared her in the eyes. "Dying won't erase it. My death can't fix my sins," Suzaku replied. "Why, CC? Do you feel guilt over what you've done – over what you've kept secret?"

CC looked away, over towards where the knightmares were still saluting. In the background, the Emperor's personal ship was still firing at his own knightmares. Other Britannian forces had arrived and were firing at them too, and the ship. Monica Krushevsky, one of the kinghts of the round, was out in her knightmare, shooting at the Emperor's other guards. "I used Lelouch," CC finally said, very quietly, "I was fully aware of the truth the entire time. In order to bring about my own death, I had to make his survival a priority."

"Any regrets?" Suzaku said, "at least that one?"

CC said nothing for a long minute, even as Bismarck's knighmare drifted off into the night towards Monica and Schneizel's forces. Schneizel must've finally escaped Max. "Not really," CC said, "no, no regrets. My sensibilities are quite different as an immortal witch. I abandoned my humanity long ago."

"Then we're not alike at all, CC," Suzaku replied. He looked at the door and put his hand against it. It was cool to the touch. "I want you to send me to the other world. You might think I'm foolish, but I'm not going to wait here and do nothing."

CC nodded.

And then he was in the thought elevator. Charles and a black-haired woman, probably Marianne's real form, stood opposed to Lelouch. "I see," Lelouch was saying, "all of the battle and bloodshed between Britannia and the Black Knights was done just to lure out CC. Well then, it seems that from the very beginning I was a mere nuisance." He looked at CC and Suzaku and said, "and what do you two think of all this?"

"Did you already know I was going to come here?" CC said to him.

"And you've regained your memories too," Lelouch said, nodding. "It was necessary for this plan, wasn't it?"

"Precisely," Charles said. He looked at Suzaku and said, "However, I cannot see any sense in your coming here as well, Kururugi."

"I'm sure you can't," Suzaku said. "I heard you're already immortal. I suppose there's not much I can do to you. But there's something I've wondered for a long time, since you showed me months ago," he said. He looked around the thought elevator and said, "Why did you make this thing? What's it for?"

"Why?" Charles said, and he gestured up at what looked like Jupiter – probably the collective unconsciousness. "Because it's what Euphy and Nunnally both desire – what Marianne and I desire. They – we – want a gentle world."

"Hmph, I see," Lelouch said lightly, "it's obvious."

The great twisting pillar of skewed people at the heart of the temple shot up into Jupiter. "Behold, it's begun! The Sword of Akasha is slaying God!" Marianne said, gesturing grandiosely, like a saint in rhapsodic prayer.

"Now once our marks of geass become one, the old world will cease and a new world will spring forth!" Charles declared.

"Lelouch," Suzaku said, turning to Lelouch, "what  _are_  your plans? What  _was_  the original reason you started this all?"

"Don't waste my time, Suzaku," Lelouch said flatly. "You already know it was Nunnally."

"Is that the entire truth, or was it just an excuse?" Suzaku said.

Lelouch thought for a moment, his eyes on the pillar. "I… you're right, Suzaku," he said slowly, "I have fought to protect everything I thought I wanted to protect. It was never just Nunnally."

Suzaku nodded. "If you're going to protect them," Suzaku said, "fulfill your promise – you need to do something."

"Yeah," Lelouch said.

"And what  _will_  you do?" Suzaku said. "What decision will you make, Lelouch?"

"I will make one I never thought of making," Lelouch replied. He turned away from Suzaku and looked at Charles and Marianne. "That decision is – that I… I…" he closed his eyes and clenched his fist before looking back up, his eyes blazing with determination, "I reject you! And I reject everything you believe! Why do people lie!? It isn't only because they struggle against each other! It's also because there's something that they're seeking! You wanna see a world without change. How stagnant! You could hardly call it life, the same as a world of memories. Just a world that's closed and completed! That's a place I wouldn't want to live in!"

"Lelouch!" Marianne said, rushing forward, "are you saying you're rejecting me as well?"

"That depends," Lelouch said, stepping out of her grasp, "is your desire the same as the emperor's, mother?"

"It will be so good to rejoin all the people from whom we've been separated!" Marianne said. "Be reunited with those who died! Make sure we'll all live on forever!"

"As I expected," Lelouch said contemptuously. "You both think this is for the best. But forcing your good intentions on others is no different from an evil act!"

"In time, people will come to accept it!" Charles said.

"That time will never come!" Lelouch replied, striking the ground with his foot. It reverberated, and Lelouch touched Suzaku's shoulder, causing him to be hit with a wave of memories – of a young Lelouch watching his mother bleed out, Nunnally in her arms, of Lelouch and Nunnally coming to Japan, of the three being separated during the war, of Lelouch and Nunnally going from safehouse to safehouse, to Lelouch meeting Shirley and Kallen and CC and Suzaku himself again, of seeing Shirley in the rain and Euphy on the island and shooting her and then seeing her again, in disguise, of a young couple on a park bench in China, of meeting Suzaku in the Kururugi shrine-

"The world you're speaking of will be kinder and gentler only for you!" Lelouch declared. Suzaku was drawn out of Lelouch's memories as Lelouch said, "the world that my sisters wish for is one in which kindness is extended to everyone, even strangers!"

Suzaku thought back to Euphy, how she'd never told him who Lelouch was, even as she thought she was dying. And how, after he'd known, she'd always refused to tell him what had happened until he forgave him…

"Let's say it's true!" Charles barked, "what of it!? There's nothing that can be done. The Ragnarok Connection has begun."

"You think so!?" Lelouch said, "I am Zero! The man who works miracles!"

"Your geass power will have no effect on me nor will it on anyone else here!" Charles roared.

"No! There's someone else here, isn't there? That's right!" he looked up at Jupiter, that was starting to meld into a great… thing, a great mashup of people, the longer Suzaku looked at it. "C's world is the will of mankind itself! And all men are not equal, remember those words!? They're your own and because of that, I'm sure you'll realize that my power will work!"

"You're a fool, Lelouch!" Charles roared, "God cannot be defeated by the power of the king!"

"I don't intend to defeat God!" Lelouch declared, "this is a request! A prayer! Yes. Now I know who I really am! God! Collective unconsciousness! Please, don't stop the march of time!"

Lelouch's other eye glowed red as well, and Jupiter stopped writhing as the pillar's surge stopped – and then Marianne and Charles began dissolving. "Lelouch, you ungrateful child!" Marianne snarled, rushing up, but Suzaku put his sword in her face. "We're only doing what they want – Nunnally and Euphy!"

"Nobody wants this! No one, and especially not Euphy!" Suzaku shouted at her.

"She was never going to be in danger again! You would always be together!" Marianne protested.

"Meaning you were going to force us to, right?" Suzaku said.

"You can't do this, boy!" Charles said, doing his best to approach Lelouch despite losing more and more of himself, "not against God nor all of humanity itself!"

He reached Lelouch's throat just as Lelouch said, "regardless, what I want is tomorrow!"

The sky pulsed and Charles was blasted backwards. The temple shuddered. The pillar began collapsing. "It can't be!" Marianne said.

"The thought elevator is falling!" Charles said, "the dream that we all shared!"

"Charles, just stop it," CC said, kneeling down "it was presumptuous of us to even attempt this."

"CC, we still bear the marks of geass," Charles said, reaching towards CC, "no matter what occurs, we-"

"This isn't a falsehood, father," Lelouch replied. "It's reality's response."

The bottom halves of Charles and Marianne were almost gone. "Darling, you…" Marianne said, turning to Marianne, and Charles cut in, "no, it's not possible! I'm supposed to be immortal! We're being absorbed? Consumed by C's world!?"

"But what about CC?" Marianne said, looking at CC, who was not being dissolved, "why isn't she disappearing as well? You supported this plan as much as we did!"

"Sorry," CC said, "but I finally realized. The love you have is only for yourselves."

"No, that's not true at all," Marianne said, shaking her head, "we love Lelouch and Nunnally very much."

"Do you have any idea what the meaning is behind Nunnally's beautiful smile?" Lelouch demanded.

"The meaning?" Marianne said, sounding dumbfounded.

"Why don't you understand!?" Lelouch said, "Nunnally was blinded, by you! My own sister is crippled! She knows… she  _knows_ that there were things in this world that she would never be able to do by herself. So her smile… Nunnally's smile… is her way of expressing gratitude!"

"Even now you spout that nonsense!" Charles snarled.

"I will not let you call that a lie – not even over my dead body!" Lelouch snarled back, "you've refused to face reality! Content to watch us from afar! Don't make me laugh! There's only one truth here: you, my own parents, you abandoned us!"

"You damned little fool!" Charles said, racing forward towards Lelouch again. Suzaku moved to get in the way.

"Suzaku, stay out of this," Lelouch snapped, and Suzaku shifted out of the way.

"Can't you understand that if you refuse me and what I offer, you will inherit his world, Schneizel's world!? Do not judge me, good and evil intentions are on each side of the same card! Even then, you still have-" Charles said.

"No matter what," Lelouch replied, "I will always reject the world you envision. Begone now!" Charles and Marianne finally dissolved. "CC, are you going as well?" Lelouch said, glancing at CC.

"When death comes, you want to at least be smiling, right?" CC said.

"Lelouch," Suzaku said, "I have a question for you, quickly. Why didn't you let Schneizel destroy Kamine Island?"

"It wouldn't fix the problem," Lelouch said, "FLEIJA couldn't kill my father. All it would do is make it harder for me to address it." Suzaku nodded.

CC looked between Suzaku and Lelouch and said, "I have a question for you two as well. What are you planning to do now?"

"Hm?" Suzaku said.

"You rejected Charles' plan. Instead, you chose reality and forward march of time. However…" CC said, looking at Lelouch.

"It seems that my future has already been decided," Lelouch said. "Your memories were sealed, though, you don't remember the plan that's been set up."

"What plan?" CC said.

"For me to become Emperor, and reform Britannia into the United States of Britannia," Lelouch said. "However, that whole plan hinges on… Suzaku." He turned to face Suzaku. "What do you think?"

Suzaku thought for a second. "You will become the emperor of Britannia," Suzaku said, "and I become your knight. That's the plan, right?"

"Yes," Lelouch said. He smiled and said, "a knight of the round can still be the personal knight of a princess, Suzaku."

Suzaku nodded. "Then, Lelouch," Suzaku said, holding out his hand, "I accept this plan."

Lelouch's smile grew and he took Suzaku's hand. "Very well," he said, "knight of zero."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may notice that most of the confrontation between Charles and Lelouch is basically the same. This is partly because, originally, I didn't even show it. However, it was leaving a gap in the story, so I went back to address it. The part with Schneizel was also thoroughly different originally. It was really played more for laughs, which didn't fit with how I wanted to finish the story.
> 
> All that being said, several of the themes I've been developing over the course of the story have still appeared here. And most importantly, the real moment of reconciliation between Lelouch and Suzaku is here.
> 
> One final note: Eberhardt's powers were foreshadowed way back in "Visits", but I'll say at a later date why I decided to make him what he is. I'm planning to do more "behind the scenes" as we go through this portion of the story, the most heavily revised portion.


	11. Chapter 11

Lelouch left in the Shinkiro, and Anya and Suzaku followed shortly afterwards. Euphy didn't feel right to follow Lelouch away, since she had the sense that wherever he was going, it was out of her league.

Once the three knightmares had disappeared into the night, Euphy had boarded the Guinevere and descended to Tokyo with relief supplies from the flagship. She didn't know how people were going to act around her, but they were still addressing her as Black – for the best, really.

Some part of her also expected there to be more cheering. Japan was free, after all, and the Japanese flag was already waving proudly over Ashford Academy, which was right on the rim of destruction and currently the advance headquarters of relief. But the mood was somber. In the distance, Mt. Fuji burning could be seen. Although technically an elite pilot, Euphy was now one of many men and women carting supplies back and forth, helping to move stretchers and bring new equipment to the operating rooms. She saw Dr. Westinghouse once, changing out of her blood-stained gloves and preparing to change into new scrubs. She wasn't able to talk.

The suffering was certainly on a level even worse than her massacre. And with every TV in Ashford now broadcasting the truth of geass and the massacre, and the claims about VV that Euphy desperately wanted to believe, and the announcement that Scheizel had cowardly murdered millions, including his own men and citizens, and detonated Japan's sacred mountain, in his bid to become emperor – well, it was very overwhelming.

For the moment, animosity between the Japanese and the Britannians was forgotten as Japanese doctors helped Britannians who'd lost eyesight, or limbs, or hearing, or speech, and as Britannian doctors did the same for the Japanese. More than one man thanked Euphy for helping out with the sick. A young mother called her an angel. And even one older Japanese man said to her, in a thick Japanese accent, "looks like I owe princess massacre an apology."

Rolo showed up just after midnight. "Any word from Zero?" Euphy said to him when she noticed him.

Rolo shook his head. "I don't even know where he went," he said. "But that's not why I'm here."

"Why are you?"

"The Viceroy."

Euphy glanced at the doors to Ashford and watched as Shirley wheeled Nunnally in. A few of the Britannians saluted at her as she entered, but Shirley shook her head and they relaxed. "Please, bring me to where I can help the most," Nunnally said to Shirley, "I want to help somehow."

"Of course," Shirley said. "Diethard said there was something only you could do."

Euphy and Rolo watched the two leave. "Where's Jeremiah?" Euphy said.

"He's out looking for survivors," Rolo replied. Then he walked off after Shirley and Nunnally.

Euphy entered the main gym to see the odd sight of Kallen, Gino, Nina, and Suzaku's old friend Rivalz dressed in medical scrubs, acting as makeshift nurses the best they could. Of them all, Nina was the palest. Although it'd been hours since the bomb went off, Euphy could see how horrified she was. She watched as Nina helped a Japanese man covered in burns get a drink of water. She was trembling. It was a feeling that Euphy knew all too well.

Euphy walked up to her and put her hand on her shoulder once she was done. "E-eu-" Nina said, paling and stuttering.

Euphy shook her head before Nina could say anything, but she also didn't know what to say. What could she?

She glanced up at the big television in the gym. It was silenced right now, but Diethard's report was still running, with all dialogue in large subtitles. Right now, it was talking about Britannian forces withdrawing from northern Honshu following their fight with the Emperor's forces at Kamine Island. There was a low murmur in the room, but otherwise it was rather quiet.

The broadcast paused, and Nunnally appeared. "Everyone," she said, "some of you may know me as Viceroy Nunnally vi Britannia, but that is no longer true. I'm now just Nunnally Lamperouge again, an ordinary citizen of the United States of Japan like the rest of you. But Zero has asked me if I would please lead a moment of silence for everyone who died or was hurt by the bomb in Tokyo today. 35 million of our brothers and sisters have passed away, and we want to honor them."

Nunnally put her hand over her heart, and silence fell. It was sacred, Euphy thought – no one said a word, though a few people clasped their hands and looked towards heaven. Other than the actual nurses, who were still going patient to patient, people were still. Many were looking at Nunnally on the screen – the gentle girl who'd gone out of her way for Japan, like Euphy had once dreamed of, who now mourned their people as a fellow citizen, not some weak-willed royal.

Euphy moved her hand over her heart, and noticed that at the same time, many of the other patients and volunteers alike had moved their hands. Nina had, as had Kallen and Gino, Rivalz, and the burn victim Nina was tending to. But so were many of the other patients – all except the blind.

This continued for a full two minutes. Then Nunnally smiled sadly and said, "thank you, everyone."

Euphy couldn't help but gasp when Nunnally slowly opened her eyes, revealing beautiful purple eyes that were filled with sadness. "I pray that we will always remember this night," Nunnally said, "as the last viceroy of Japan, I hope that this is one of the only orders of mine that is remembered."

The broadcast cut off and Diethard's explainer resumed. Euphy had just finished tending to her patient so she instantly turned and ran through the school, passing doctors and Black Knights alike, until she reached the old student council room. She opened the door and stooped over to catch her breath. She glanced up to see Diethard fiddling with a camera, Suzaku's old friend Milly looking over some broadcast equipment, Shirley standing behind Nunnally's wheelchair, and Nunnally…

"Nunnally," she said, looking up to look her little sister in the eyes, "your sight-"

"Euphy, I… the people of Japan need to see my eyes," Nunnally said. She blinked and said, "um, it's hard to see you right now, though…"

Euphy smiled. "Your eyesight will be back to normal before long," she said. "The same thing happened to me."

"We heard from Lulu," Shirley said. "He said he's coming back soon."

Diethard finished fiddling with his camera. "He said the emperor's been dealt with," he said. "Don't know much beyond that." He shrugged and left the room.

"Lelouch said he also met mom," Nunnally said, "and that she… she…"

"That she's dead too. For real," Shirley said. "But he… didn't sound sad about it. Not anymore."

Euphy blinked. She'd thought that Lelouch was close to Lady Marianne. "What about Suzaku?" Euphy said.

"They only called a few minutes ago," Milly replied. "I'm sure things will be ok." She gave Euphy a thumbs-up.

The door opened and Rolo stepped in. "Ah, um, you're Nunnally, right?" Rolo said, looking hesitatingly at Nunnally.

Nunnally nodded, and then smiled at him. "You must be Rolo," Nunnally said, "my big brother, right?"

Rolo laughed. "I don't think I'm  _that_ much older than you, Nunnally," Rolo said.

"That doesn't matter," Nunnally said. Shirley wheeled Nunnally closer to Rolo, and Nunnally said, "please, lean down, Rolo."

Rolo blinked and leaned down, and Nunnally kissed him on the cheek. "Huh?" Rolo said.

Nunnally smiled again and said, "welcome to our family, big brother."

Shirley wheeled her out of the room, leaving a shocked-looking Rolo. "See, you don't need to be afraid of her," Euphy told Rolo. Rolo just nodded.

Euphy helped out for the next few hours and ended up slumping, exhausted, into what was left of the guest room Lelouch had given her what felt like an eternity ago – what was actually only three weeks ago. This time, the glass was blasted out of its frames, and Euphy had to be very careful to avoid stepping on it. But it felt nice to rest.

She closed her eyes and didn't need to open her eyes to recognize who it was when someone collapsed onto the bed next to her. Euphy interlinked her fingers with Suzaku and said, "what happened?"

"Lelouch killed the emperor," Suzaku said quietly. "Sort of."

Euphy nodded. She could worry about it in the morning. "And what happened with his mom?" she said.

"Well… she was Charles' favorite wife, I guess. They were both in on a plan with VV and originally CC. To make a world with no lies," Suzaku said.

"That doesn't sound like the kind of world we can live in," Euphy said. She opened her eyes and glanced over at Suzaku.

He was staring at the ceiling. He looked haggard. "They… they said that in that kind of world, death wouldn't matter anymore," he said. "That we could be together forever. No matter what happened."

Euphy thought of her own mother, of Lelouch and Nunnally and Clovis and especially Suzaku and Cornelia. "That… doesn't sound too bad," Euphy admitted.

"Euphy," Suzaku said, squeezing her hand, "like you said. We can't live in that kind of world." He glanced at her and said, "and even if I lost you… if I lost you again… I don't think I could live in that kind of world."

"And why's that?" Euphy said.

"The gentle world we want is the one where people are gentle for its own sake, right?" Suzaku said. "Not one where they're forced into it."

Euphy nodded. She pushed herself up and over so she could lie on Suzaku. She put her head against his chest so she could listen to his heartbeat. "Suzaku," Euphy said, "tomorrow, I'm going to reveal who I am. I'm going to ask for their forgiveness."

Suzaku put one arm around her. "Let me be with you for this, then," he said. "Anything you want, I'll get you."

"Thank you."

They shared a kiss, and then Euphy slipped into sleep.

* * *

Lelouch woke up.

It was still dark outside. He was in his old room at the school. He glanced over at an alarm clock he'd plugged in last night. 3:47 am.

Shirley shifted in bed next to him. She was still sound asleep. Lelouch sat up and got out of bed, carefully moving away from her. He didn't want to wake her up.

He found himself in the kitchen and filled a cup of water. He pondered it for a second… and then dumped it down the sink. He didn't know if the water had been infected with the same thing as the people had from the FLEIJA blast.

"Lelouch?"

Lelouch glanced up to see Nunnally wheel herself into the kitchen. Her eyes were open now, and she was looking at him for now only the second time in eight years – the first being when he had come back, spent and exhausted from the world of C's, with only enough time to hug her before Shirley had sent him to rest.

"Lelouch, are you listening to me?"

Lelouch blinked. "What is it, Nunnally?" he said.

"Your eyes…" Nunnally replied. Lelouch frowned and felt his eyes. Nothing seemed different. "They're red," Nunnally added, "like a demon."

"That's what I am," Lelouch replied. He laughed shakily and said, "don't worry, normally this doesn't happen. I've got contacts for this."

Nunnally nodded. "Shirley told me that there are some angels who became demons," Nunnally said. "Are you sure you're not one of them?"

"What do you mean, Nunnally?" Lelouch said.

Nunnally wheeled herself over next to Lelouch and took his hand. "You turned into a devil for me, right? So, can you… can you become an angel again too?" Nunnally said.

"Angels that became devils did that because they rebelled against God, Nunnally," Lelouch replied.

Nunnally nodded. "The angels rebelled because they were selfish," Nunnally said. "I think that you did this for me. That even though you look like a devil… that's not who you are."

Lelouch sighed. "Nunnally, do you know all the things I've done? I killed Clovis. I almost killed Euphy. I tried over and over to kill Cornelia. I killed our parents," he said, "millions are dead because of what I did, Nunnally! I'm a monster."

"You didn't start as one, and you don't have to end as one," Nunnally replied. "Please, Lelouch… for me."

Lelouch nodded and took several deep breaths to try and calm down. Then he reached over and hugged Nunnally closely. "I've missed you," he said.

Nunnally nodded. "Me too," she said. She looked up at Lelouch and said, "see? Things are already getting better! We have new family members, and it's almost time for this war to end, and-"

"Nunnally, I'm going to be emperor," Lelouch said.

"Huh?"

"Euphy's plan, the Black Knights' orders. I'm to take over the Empire and transform it," Lelouch said.

"But… you'll come visit me here, right?" Nunnally said. "Japan is more my home than Britannia."

"Of course I'll visit you," Lelouch replied.

Nunnally nodded. "Then, please… be a gentle emperor. A good one."

"If all goes well, they'll govern themselves," Lelouch said. "I'd rather be Zero than Emperor Lelouch." Then he smiled and said, "and what are you talking about with new family members, Nunnally?"

"Euphy's getting married, Rolo is our brother now, CC is always with us… and you're going to need an empress," Nunnally said. She giggled and said, "I'm sure Shirley would be happy with that."

Lelouch smiled at her. He hadn't thought much about that past what Shirley had told him yesterday. "We'll see, Nunnally," he said. "But I guess, in a weird way, Euphy's dream did come true."

Lelouch helped Nunnally get back into bed and returned to the kitchen. Maybe the water was trustworthy after all.

He began filling up his glass again, then heard a creak behind him. "Careful around the glass, Suzaku," Lelouch said, "all the windows got blasted out."

"So I noticed," Suzaku replied. Lelouch turned to see his oldest friend standing in the doorway. For the first time in a long time, his glare was gone, though he also wasn't smiling. "Are you sure about this?"

"I've taken this punishment," Lelouch replied.

"Are you going to give up the Black Knights?" Suzaku said, "reveal Zero?"

"I'd rather not," Lelouch said. "Suzaku… are you ready?"

Suzaku nodded. "I am," he said, "to strike you down, if necessary. To bring about peace again."

Lelouch nodded. "Let's pray it doesn't come to that."

"What are you going to do about Zero?"

"I don't know." Lelouch looked at his glass of water. "If necessary, Suzaku… perhaps you should take it up."

"Me?"

"If I turn tyrant, then Zero must by the symbol of hope. In that case… let Zero strike me down. Be a symbol of freedom," Lelouch said.

Suzaku shook his head. "Euphy would never forgive me," he said.

"It's her plan," Lelouch replied. "We have to be practical, Suzaku."

Suzaku frowned and looked down. "Let's… talk about this later," he said. "This is purely hypothetical, Lelouch. Besides, this isn't what I wanted to talk about."

"What is it, then?"

"I want to apologize."

"Apologize?"

"For how I acted. For accidentally selling you out to Kanon and Schneizel. For hating you, and never once stopping to think why you acted how you did-"

"Suzaku, I tried to kill Euphy," Lelouch said flatly. "Don't forgive me for that."

"If I don't forgive you, I can't move forward with her," Suzaku replied. "Shirley was right. Forgiveness is the only thing that will cure my bitterness."

Lelouch nodded. "Thank you, Suzaku," he said. He drank his water and walked up to Suzaku, then put his hand on Suzaku's shoulder. "And listen. Take care of Euphy, will you?"

"Of course," Suzaku said.

Lelouch smiled at him. "Glad to hear it," Lelouch said. He returned to his room, leaving Suzaku standing in the doorway.

* * *

The crater was still there the next morning. That was no surprise at all to Euphy. What was more surprising was that flowers were starting to appear on the rim. "Every garden left in the city has probably been pulled up," Lloyd had told her.

At Euphy's insistence, that morning she had gone with Suzaku to Diethard's cameras and explained who she actually was and asked for forgiveness from Japan over her actions. To her surprise, she was receiving it. "We saw what the empire did to you," one woman told Euphy, and a young man had said, "I don't blame Zero, but I don't blame you either."

Footage from the Geass Directorate was now being broadcast too, so it seemed more and more people were accepting Cornelia's version of events. In any case, it felt good to be Euphemia li Britannia openly again, and though Suzaku was on-edge about any potential assassins, Euphy was glad that only a handful of Japanese seemed to be holding onto a grudge for her now. Most were thankful for the help she'd been giving after the FLEIJA.

And help she was giving. She had learned more about being a nurse in the last 24 hours than over a lifetime of reading books or watching medical dramas. She was on hand to comfort people who were injured, bring water and food to patients, or to help families find loved ones. She had been nervous about leading her first Japanese family to meet up with their father in the gym, but the wife and little son had been very friendly.

"Thank you for helping us," the wife had told her, in very good English, "and please, accept my apology for thinking so badly of you, Princess Euphemia. We should have realized you were forced to attack us." And then she moved to bow to Euphy, but Euphy had cut her off by bowing to her instead.

That being said, there was still backlash. Suzaku had to stop three separate people from trying to hurt her. One woman started screaming at her over the massacre. Others just ignored her. But they weren't the norm.

At lunch, Euphy sat with Suzaku, her old doctors, Kaguya, and Nunnally. "Do you think they're just accepting what we said about VV?" Euphy speculated. Suzaku was looking at Eberhardt funnily for some reason.

Dr. Eberhardt shrugged. "35 million people got killed by one bomb, launched by Schneizel to try and kill three people. You killed about a hundred because a Britannian took control of Zero's mind. Fact is, you're small peanuts now."

"But that doesn't change what I did," Euphy said, "and I don't get why there haven't been more angry people."

"I think a lot of people respect you for coming forward," Kaguya said. "Japanese people value honesty and bravery."

"And getting mad won't change anything," Suzaku said. "Don't beat yourself up about it, Euphy. It wasn't your fault and that's that."

Euphy nodded, although her heart wasn't stilled.

For the rest of the day, she kept helping. She didn't see Lelouch at all, though for that matter, neither did Shirley, Nunnally, Rolo, Ohgi, Kallen, or even CC. "Even I don't know where he went," Suzaku told her.

Euphy spent more time tending to the people while waiting for more news. As she worked, she started to get the sense that Eberhardt was right. The fact was that 35 million were dead, and the whole world knew it. And that was what the survivors were thinking of. "You were a victim like us," one survivor told Euphy in his heavy Japanese accent, unprompted, while she refilled his cup with water, "Britannia mind-controls its princesses and murders all of our families and blows up Mt. Fuji. It's awful."

Euphy also heard more about world news. Schneizel was quick to action, moving his forces in a lightning strike on the remains of Europa United. Their capital had already fallen, and Schneizel had already picked new knights of the round. Word was that he was going to be crowned Emperor in London, the capital of Britannia before the Napoleonic Wars – and he had all of the out-lying areas. So far, no more FLEIJAs had been used.

That being said, it had been less than two days since Schneizel and the  _Avalon_ flew off into the night. Euphy still hadn't seen Lelouch around. "He's probably planning his takeover," Suzaku said.

On the third day after the liberation of Japan, trade had been restored, and normal food was flowing in. The crater had stopped filling with water from the severed sewers and water mains. Plans had been produced for a memorial to the victims. The fires inside of Mt. Fuji were almost out. It had taken a lot of chemical, apparently, but now it was time for the mountain to heal. Well, as much as a mountain could.

Euphy and Suzaku had also worked together to clean up Lelouch's old house. Kallen had ordered a guard to stand there since Nunnally, Cornelia, and Euphy were now all living there for now, and the shattered glass had been replaced by bulletproof glass salvaged from broken Britannian vehicles by Rakshata and Lloyd.

Suzaku had basically moved into Euphy's room, much to Cornelia's annoyance, but it wasn't like there was really anywhere to go. His apartment, Euphy's old prison, had been part of the blast radius.

One thing that Euphy realized late was that Kinoshita, who'd she promised to introduce Suzaku to, had died in the FLEIJA blast with Asahina as well. Euphy had sought out Kinoshita's family and thanked them for having such a brave son and husband.

And through it all, Lelouch was still gone.

It was the end of the fourth day. Suzaku and Euphy had made curry for everyone. Cornelia had taken her portion and the portion for Guilford and gone to tend to him. She hadn't spoken that much since the FLEIJA. Rolo was helping Nunnally. They were getting close, which warmed Euphy's heart. She hadn't expected them to hit it off, but Rolo had told her that Nunnally was the third person in Rolo's entire life to treat him like he was family, after Lelouch and Euphy herself. Sayoko didn't eat much, preferring to make sure that Nunnally got enough. Anya was still recovering from the island and stayed in her room, where Jeremiah was helping her to eat. And CC had found a pizza and was eating that lazily, seemingly back to normal.

The last person usually at their meals was Shirley. She seemed far more worried than anyone else. "What's wrong, Shirley?" Euphy said as she sat down next to Shirley. Shirley was poking at her curry and glanced up.

"Oh, not much, Euphy," Shirley said, "it's just… I haven't seen Lulu much. I don't know where he's going."

"Have you seen him at all?" Suzaku said, sitting next to Euphy.

"He comes in at night and sleeps on his couch," Shirley said, "and then he's gone in the morning."

"Grill him next time he shows up, got it?" Suzaku said.

Shirley nodded.

Euphy and Suzaku chatted with her about Milly and Rivalz. Jeremiah had already restored their memories so they remembered Nunnally, but they had both decided to keep being friends with Rolo so he wouldn't feel left out. Then Euphy, Suzaku, and Shirley had talked about their day-to-day work and finally, came around to weddings. "Have you two decided on a date yet?" Shirley said.

Euphy shook her head. "We're waiting until after the civil war is over," Suzaku said, "or when Euphy turns 20. Whichever happens first."

"You'd be fine with getting married at 18?" Shirley said, looking at Euphy.

Euphy shrugged. "Royals have always gotten married really young. I think the only reason I was never married off to someone was Cornelia scared off all the nobles or other countries who might be interested."

"She's not going to scare me off," Suzaku said.

Euphy smiled. "If you run off because of Cornelia, I'm chasing you down with Guinevere," Euphy said.

"I dunno," Shirley said, "I was watching from the  _Ikaruka_. I think if Suzaku wanted to get away, he could."

"Not if I tell him sternly not to!" Euphy said.

The three laughed. "With Lancelot gone, what are you going to use?" Shirley said.

"Lancelot Albion. It's something that Lloyd and Cécile have been working on," Suzaku said.

"They're redesigning Guinevere for me too!" Euphy said excitedly.

"I'm gonna stick to comms," Shirley said, laughing a little, "giant robots kind of scare me."

"Suit yourself," Suzaku said.

Shirley finished her food and went to the kitchen, leaving Euphy and Suzaku to talk to each other. "You know about the Damocles by now, don't you, Euphy?" Suzaku said.

Euphy nodded. Nina had already explained it to the high command of the Black Knights, which she had gone to with Kallen. Suzaku had been busy with something else at the time. "I bet we're going to go after it directly," Euphy said. "When that time comes… I want to fight alongside you."

Their hands intertwined. "Alright, Euphy," Suzaku said, "I can't think of anyone I'd rather have watch my back."

"You're not afraid I'll get hurt?" Euphy said.

Suzaku leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I think I can keep you safe and fight Schneizel too," Suzaku said. "But I'll make sure to train you some more. We've gotta beat Kallen and Gino."

Euphy smiled at him. "Let's do that," she said.

* * *

Gino found Kallen sitting at the rim of the crater, looking out past the ghettos and towards Mt. Fuji. Smoke had stopped billowing out of the mountain, but half of it was basically gone. Gino sat down next to her. "How's it hanging, beautiful?" Gino said.

Kallen leaned against him. "Not bad," she said, "just thinking."

Gino put his arm around her. "You know," he said, "at least all the mining crap is gone from Mt. Fuji."

"Yeah," Kallen said.

Gino looked out at the crater. He thought of people he'd met – Britannian and Japanese alike – over the course of his time in Japan. He thought of his maid from many years ago, Ms. Yotsuya, and wondered if she had been in the city or the ghetto when the FLEIJA had gone off. "I'm gonna come back here," Gino said, "help build up the city again. Fill up the crater."

"Fill in the crater with what?" Kallen said.

"The bomb went down to bedrock. We can build new foundations, build it up like the settlement was. Rebuild the ghettos, make this place as beautiful as it was before the war," Gino said.

"Thanks, Gino," Kallen said.

"No problem," Gino replied.

"You know," Kallen said slowly, "my old house was in the part of the settlement that's a crater now."

"Are your parents ok?" Gino said.

"My father and stepmother moved back to Britannia after the Black Rebellion," Kallen said, "I don't know where they are and frankly, I don't care. And Lelouch sprung my mom out of prison a long time ago. She's recovering back in China right now."

"I'm glad," Gino said.

"But the Shinjuku ghetto, where I first met Zero and the Black Knights were born and where Naoto died… that's all gone," Kallen said.

"Then we're gonna fill it in and build a giant statue to Naoto and everyone else who died," Gino said. "All of the Black Knights and the JLF and the massacre victims… that's what we're gonna do."

Kallen smiled, just a little. "You sound so confident, Gino," she said.

"As long as you help me out, I can do anything," Gino replied.

"You'd move back to Japan, even as a loyal Britannian?" Kallen said.

"If that's where the winds of fate take me, then yes," Gino said.

Kallen reached over and took his right hand with hers. "By winds of fate, do you mean me?" she said.

"Only if you'll have me," Gino replied.

"You're so confident about that, too," Kallen said.

"I have to be. If I'm confident, I can distract you from feeling sad. Hopefully, make you a little happier," Gino said.

"Why not focus on making yourself happy?" Kallen said.

"Making you happy makes me happy," Gino said. He tightened his hug and said, "that's just the way love is."

"Thanks, Gino."

"No problem."

Kallen pulled him in closer and kissed him. "Thanks for picking me over Charles or Schneizel," she said, breaking away.

"You made it easy to choose," Gino replied. And then he kissed her again.

* * *

Shirley had been taking a nice walk through the flower memorials and smiled when she saw Kallen and Gino talking on the rim of the crater. She only lingered to watch them long enough to see them start kissing each other. Then she returned to her home.

And for now, Lelouch's house really  _was_ her home. Her mother's home had been in the middle of what was now the crater, and her mother was still safe down in Australia. And her father's graveyard wasn't in the crater area.

She'd been reliably informed by Euphy, Cornelia, and Nunnally that if Lelouch was to be emperor, then he would need an empress, and they were all nominating her for that role. Since Nunnally had a harder time helping out patients than Euphy and Cornelia, she had more time to try and teach Shirley how a "proper" empress was to act when Shirley was done with her shifts.

Shirley wasn't sure how ready she was to basically be royalty, and some part of her was glad that, with Kallen and Gino getting along well, hopefully Lelouch wouldn't pursue Kallen to be a consort of his. Not that that seemed in character all for him… she was just worried.

The sun had long set by the time she stepped inside. Rolo was napping on the couch, Nunnally was listening to Cornelia talk about battles of hers in the Middle East, and Suzaku and Euphy were cuddling on the couch. Shirley wished her own boyfriend was somewhere, but for now she could focus on getting in bed.

Because she was tired, very tired.

She slipped into Lelouch's room. Lelouch wasn't in, as usual. She looked at the bed, which she had basically coopted, since Lelouch was never in and he rarely shared the bed with her. Then she looked at the couch.

She would wait until he came home.

She changed into her pajamas and waited on the couch for him to arrive. She got fitful sleep, dozing off but then waking up again because Lelouch wasn't in. It wasn't that she couldn't sleep without him. She just wanted to talk to him. That's part of why she'd kept taking the bed, in the hopes that he would get in bed too, and then she could trap him and finally talk to him. But that approach was not only not working, in retrospect it was kind of an awful plan.

She woke up again when the door slid open. Lelouch seemed deep in thought, to the point that he didn't even acknowledge her on the couch. He changed out of his clothes into his own set of nightwear and turned to the couch… then frowned when he saw Shirley there. She yawned widely and stretched. "It's not nice to make me wait so long, Lulu," Shirley said.

Lelouch smiled. "It's nice of you to make sure no one takes my couch," he said.

"I'd rather you take the bed I keep warming for you," Shirley said, standing up and grabbing his arm. "C'mon."

He didn't resist as she pushed him onto the bed and then crawled on top of him. "Don't we have to be under the covers for the bed to actually  _get_ warm, Shirley?" Lelouch said.

"Yeah," Shirley said, closing her eyes and indulging her weariness for a second, "just… just give me a sec."

"Alright."

For a few minutes she listened to him breathing in and out. She slowly moved her arms around him to make sure he wouldn't try and escape. "Lulu," she finally said, "where've you been?"

"Going around Japan, trying to draw up battle plans," Lelouch replied. "And working with Nina to figure out a counter to the FLEIJAs. We have to kill the Damocles."

"What about the rest of the empire?" Shirley said.

"We're going to take that over in a few days," Lelouch replied, "I just need to tell Suzaku." He kissed her forehead then said, "once that's all over, I'm going to present you. As the next empress."

Shirley tightened her grip. "Is this a marriage proposal?" she said.

Lelouch laughed. "I'm not doing that until you've agreed to be empress," he said, "don't worry. I'm going to make that a little nicer."

"Alright. I'll accept to be empress on one condition," Shirley said, "no consorts, no other empresses, only me. I'm the only one that will make any heirs, got it?"

Lelouch kissed her again. "It's a bit early to be talking about heirs," he said, "but yeah, I accept."

"You can still be friends with CC though."

Lelouch laughed some more. "I don't even know if she could  _have_ kids, Shirley," he replied, but he nuzzled her and said, "but yeah, it's kind of hard for me to do this whole 'romantic love' thing. I think I'd give up if I had to go through all this again."

"Alright," Shirley said. "You're making everyone worry, you know. Stay for breakfast."

"Yes, my lady."

"I'm gonna sound a little silly, aren't I," Shirley said, "having a pet name for the Emperor."

"I like it. It's simple," Lelouch replied. "Don't stop."

"Alright," Shirley said.

They slipped under the covers and Shirley hugged Lelouch. "Thanks for being here for me," Lelouch said, "things are about to get a lot messier."

"Don't worry, Lulu," Shirley said. "I'll be here as long as I can." They were quiet for a few minutes, before Shirley worked up her courage and said, "Lulu, you're not… going to use geass on me again, will you?"

"Not if I can help it," he replied.

"What about our children?"

"Same thing."

"How many kids do you want?"

"Shirley, we're barely 18. Let's decide that later."

"Alright."

"Besides, it's safer for you if you're at least like 20 or something," Lelouch added. He squeezed her hand and said, "I don't want you in danger."

"Well, keeping me away didn't work. I think this is, though," Shirley said. "…Was geass supposed to isolate you?"

"Hm?"

"I mean, it seems like, up until Euphy walked back into your life…"

"I don't know," Lelouch replied. "CC thought geass would isolate because that's what it did to her. But maybe geass doesn't inherently isolate."

"I hope it doesn't," Shirley replied.

"Me too."

"Good night, Emperor Lulu."

"Good night, Empress Shirley."

* * *

The trip to Pendragon would be a rather small affair. They were going in three planes – Lelouch, Nunnally, and Shirley in one, Suzaku and Euphy in another, and Cornelia in the third. They were also bringing along Jeremiah, Lloyd, Cécile, CC, Eberhardt, Westinghouse, Diethard, and Rolo. Seeing as the homeland was still in a state of confusion while Britannian armies fought each other in Africa and Europe, it was easy enough for the three planes to slip in. Plus, Lelouch had already used stolen codes to send out a signal that the Emperor was going to appear before the assembled high nobles and royals of the empire still loyal to him.  _And_ he'd chosen it to coincide with Schneizel's own televised crowning in London.

They made their way to the palace and Lelouch and Suzaku prepared for their grand entrance. They waited for the appointed time, and then Lelouch casually strode in from Charles' old entrance and assumed the throne. The nobles and royals seemed too shocked to react for a full thirty seconds.

Finally, Odysseus broke the silence. "Lelouch, you're alive!" he said, "how glad I am to see you! But, you're taking our father's chair-"

"The Emperor is dead," Lelouch said, propping himself up on the arm of the chair and crossing his legs, "I killed him one week ago."

"What? Impossible!" Guinevere declared.

"Lelouch, this isn't funny," Odysseus said.

"I have come to claim the empire for myself, and to transform it as Zero and the UFN would want," Lelouch said.

"We'll never do such a thing!" Guinevere said. She stood and said, "guards, seize him!"

A set of spear-equipped guards rushed up, but Suzaku spin-kicked them out of the way. "This is Suzaku Kururugi, the knight of zero," Lelouch said, gesturing to Suzaku, "but as you're unlikely to recognize the long-dead royal and a Japanese knight…" He pulled off his contacts and said, "I command you all to acknowledge me as Emperor!"

He watched as geass burnt into the eyes of all of the assembled royals and nobles. Lead by Odysseus, they began chanting: "All hail Lelouch! All hail Lelouch! All hail Lelouch!" and so on.

"Now," Lelouch said, standing and putting his contacts back on, "let this be the day that the Holy Britannian Empire dies, and the United States of Britannia is born! On this day, July 4, 2018!"

"All hail the United States of Britannia!" the crowd chorused.

"Today, the dream of George Washington and the Americans is reborn!" Lelouch declared.

"All hail George Washington! All hail the Revolutionaries!"

"To our new world!" Lelouch yelled.

"All hail Lelouch! All hail George Washington! All hail the United States of Britannia!" the crowd chorused back.

Lelouch smiled. His final step of redemption had finally begun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, we're coming up towards the end. Only Schneizel remains. The final confrontation will be a bit longer - I'll have more things to explain behind-the-scenes when we get there.


	12. Chapter 12

The first few months of reform were an exciting time for Euphy. Kallen and Gino arrived a few days after Lelouch seized control of the Americas to oversee the process of combining the Black Knights with the Britannian army. The generals had been unhappy up until Lelouch brainwashed them into loyalty. The mass use of geass was distasteful, but the fact was that there was nothing that could be done. And the average citizen didn't seem to care that much that their elites were being controlled by geass since the common man's life was starting to get exponentially better.

And getting better it was. Euphy watched as Lelouch personally abolished nobility, de facto serfdom and slavery, and the monopolies. Euphy herself oversaw the dissolution of the number system and the establishment of full rights of all non-Britannians in the country. She watched as a great monument to George Washington was erected at the entrance of the once-sacred mausoleum of the Emperors, which was being transformed into a museum on Lelouch's orders. The elite soldiers and the OSI were being put under geass by Lelouch. And, last but certainly not least, CC was finally head of the Geass Directorate and was establishing firm control over all of the research stations scattered around the UFN and Britannia.

It didn't take long for Kaguya to oversee the official entrance of the United States of Britannia into the UFN. Lelouch was, for now, the official representative of the USB, and he easily made it in based on his reforms, his planned further reforms, and the simple fact that only land he controlled was to be counted for UFN voting purposes. Zero greeted Lelouch and his armies' entrance though, in reality, "Zero" was actually Ohgi speaking on behalf of Zero – a role Lelouch still held.

In between all of his reforms, Lelouch was still overseeing the war against Schneizel. Schneizel had been doing his own reforms – abolishing the number system as well, since he no longer had access to many actual Britannians, and very quickly annexing in Europe to his empire. Between Schneizel's Holy Britannian Empire and the UFN, the entire world, sans Australia, was at war.

Euphy knew that a lot of her role, now, however, was home front. She was still training with Suzaku in a training model for the future Guinevere that Lelouch had assigned Rakshata and Lloyd to work on, but officially she oversaw things like tearing down statues of Charles, liberation of sharecroppers and serfs, and dedications and erections of new monuments to people worthy of being remembered. One ceremony that she went to, though it was Cornelia in charge, was the dedication of a new park in Pendragon to Darlton and his adoptive sons, the latter of which had all been killed by the FLEIJA. Euphy bit her lip while Cornelia talked about Darlton's pragmatism that had lead to his equal treatment of people – she remembered shooting him during the massacre when he tried to stop her genocide.

Either way, Euphy was having, well, a fun time as she oversaw the transformation of the empire. It warmed her heart to see the positive reactions by the downtrodden to Lelouch's reforms, just as it made her happy to start seeing non-Britannians walk around Pendragon – an unthinkable event just six months ago.

The last two major events as October approached were the introduction of the empress-to-be and the announcement that the Constitution of the United States of Britannia was being written.

The latter announcement was a much dryer one that Diethard was in charge of, where Lelouch, with Dr. Eberhardt and Cornelia, explained that the remaining empire was to be split into one hundred states, with 800 representatives split across the 100 states and each state receiving two senators, and each state to function as its own little democracy. The Emperor would lose almost all of his power, with a President being elected to serve as commander-in-chief and chief executive. While the monarch could be President, they could not serve as such past two terms, and the Knight of Zero directly (and the UFN and Black Knights indirectly) were charged with ensuring that the Constitution was upheld regarding the monarch.

There were a lot more details past that, but Euphy got so bored during the event that she stopped paying attention and just started planning out mentally what kind of food she wanted to eat for the next three weeks.

The introduction of the future Empress was a lot more fun since it got to be the same event where she announced officially that she was wedding Suzaku. They had even set a "date": October 11, her 18th birthday. It was a trap for Schneizel.

At the end of an intensive barrage of questions from UFN and Britannian press that only she and Suzaku had to endure, Lelouch himself appeared and took the seat they had left vacant for him earlier.

"Your majesty, how do you feel about your younger sister being married off at age 18?" one reporter asked.

Lelouch smiled and said, "Sir Kururugi took good care of my sister while she was recovering from the effects of geass. She has chosen, of her own volition, when to get married."

"Sir, there are rumors that you may be getting married soon too," another reporter said, "is there any truth to this?"

"I don't know about  _when_ I will get married, as I have no desire to until after this war is over," Lelouch said, "but I do know who I shall marry."

The press corps began buzzing more excitedly. Diethard in the front, as the head of the Black Knights' press channel and fully in-the-know about these plans, raised his hand. "When will we meet her, your majesty?" Diethard said.

"Let me see if she's ready," Lelouch said, and he got up and went back through his door. Then, a few seconds later, he lead Shirley out, dressed in a fine imperial gown, her hair and makeup done up, and her face a deep blush that Euphy suspected was not from makeup. "Please welcome Ms. Shirley Fenette."

"Uh… hi, everyone," Shirley squeaked. She clearly was nowhere as used to the cameras as Lelouch, Euphy, or Suzaku were. "Um… I'm, uh, looking forward to- to this…"

"Can you tell us how you met, your majesty?" one reporter said.

"We met in high school," Lelouch said, "she thought I was an aloof prick. Then, for some reason, she fell madly in love."

"That- that's true," Shirley said, laughing awkwardly.

The rest of the press conference was almost painful as Euphy tried to help Shirley calm her nerves and answer questions, especially as they started getting closer and closer to questions of an heir. Lelouch firmly shut those questions down as each one was getting poor Shirley more and more embarrassed, but by the end of the press conference Shirley was at least able to lean from her seat enough to kiss Lelouch on the cheek and receive a polite round of applause. Then the press conference had concluded.

"What image did that send, Diethard?" Suzaku said after the other reporters left and Lelouch and Shirley returned back into the palace.

"They'll see that the new Empress is young and not used to the media, but I think people will see that it's a marriage of love. People are suckers for that," Diethard said. "Plus the whole high school romance thing… give her enough time, and people will probably fall in love with her, though. She's too nice to be hateable."

"Oh, Diethard, I was going to ask," Euphy said, "what're you going to do after this is all over? The civil war?"

Diethard chuckled. "Well, we're always going to need people with my expertise," he said, "third-in-command of the Black Knights and a chief advisor to the Emperor… and I think our future first president is thinking of tapping me for a Cabinet position."

"Who's the future first president?" Suzaku said.

Diethard smiled. "You'll see," he said, "I'm surprised she hasn't talked to you about it. I mean… it's your future sister-in-law."

That was also the day that Euphy found out that Cornelia had political aspirations in a democratic country.

After she finished talking to Diethard, Euphy and Suzaku went back into the palace. "Hey, Suzaku," Euphy said, "there's someplace I want to see here."

"What's that?"

"My first prison."

Suzaku nodded. He looked uneasy, but still the two got in disguise and left the imperial palace to head to the little villa Euphy had been trapped in. It was now overgrown, but the door was unlocked nonetheless. As Euphy walked through it, she looked at the equipment and the bare bookshelves and the bed where she'd had her first kiss.

She walked into the courtyard to find Dr. Eberhardt and Dr. Westinghouse, both of whom were poring over old books, sitting on a picnic blanket with a basket between them. Euphy smiled when she saw them – they had told her that morning that they were going to be visiting 'a familiar old place'. Suzaku looked surprised. Then he furrowed his brow.

"Max," Suzaku said, sitting down, "how did you escape Bismarck?"

"I told you I have a code," Eberhardt replied. "He couldn't kill me. He just left me for dead."

"And are you a code user too, Julie?" Suzaku said, looking at Dr. Westinghouse.

She smiled. "I am," she said, "although… we're actually about the same age."

"So, are you two actually marred?" Euphy said, sitting next to Suzaku.

"We have been for hundreds of years," Westinghouse replied. "We met back in the 1750s. Max was a former slave, who used his geass to turn his masters on each other before leading a slave rebellion. He got the code but was killed at Yorktown."

"And Julie was an idealistic young noble who fled from Britannia and wound up in America. She got the code and then was hanged for witchcraft," Eberhardt said.

"If you don't mind me asking, what were your geasses?" Suzaku said.

"I could make anyone tell the truth," Eberhardt said, "as often and for as long as I wanted."

"I could remove people's feelings of pain," Westinghouse said, "whether it was physical, or emotional, or spiritual… but I used it on the wrong person, and they called me a witch." She shrugged.

"We lost those abilities when we died," Eberhardt said.

"But we've been working together ever since," Westinghouse added. "And eventually, we fell in love."

"We fought with General Washington," Eberhardt said, "and I was good friends with Ben – Benjamin Franklin. Using my geass, I learned from him that he had been put under geass himself. That's why he betrayed us."

"After we came back to life through the code, we've worked for different branches of the royal family in different capacities," Westinghouse said, "working over time until we could reestablish General Washington's ideals."

"And then, through something we were entirely unrelated to, we've managed to bring back George's ideals," Eberhardt said. "But we were lucky, too. We were in the right place at the right time to save Euphemia. And I think that one action has changed everything for the better."

Suzaku nodded. "Did you two ever make contracts with anyone?" he said.

They both shook their head. "We couldn't risk upsetting our long-term plans," Eberhardt said, "but who knows now? They've accelerated a lot."

Suzaku's phone began ringing. "Oh, it's Lelouch," he said, "hold on, I'll go answer this."

He got up and left. Euphy watched him go then looked at Eberhardt. "Doctor, I have a request," Euphy said. "And please, don't tell Suzaku."

"Of course," Eberhardt said. "What is it?"

"Well…"

* * *

Lelouch was in his newly-finished official imperial office, which was basically just his office as Zero, down to CC eating pizza, Shirley still working comms in the corner, and the hook he kept his Zero cape on. That was very important: as the head of the Black Knights, he generally went as Zero to all UFN functions he was needed for (unless Emperor Lelouch  _also_ needed to be there, in which case he assigned Ohgi or CC to act on his behalf).

"Lulu," Shirley said, glancing up from her reports, "Xingke reports reduced strength by 35% in central Mongolia. And…" she shuffled her papers and said, "Tohdoh reports a reduction by 58% in Iraq."

"And Cambodia?" Lelouch said.

"Ohgi says that opposing forces have increased by…64%," Shirley said, and she added, "but nothing past 4th generation knightmares have been reported."

"I see," Lelouch said. "CC. Reports from the Directorate?"

"The Damocles is ready for launch," CC said, "and Schneizel and his knights of the round have been spotted heading towards Cambodia. They will finish assembling on the 10th, with likely launch date on the 11th."

"I feel as if Schneizel  _knows_ this is a trap and he's planning something in kind," Lelouch said. "Shirley, any report on Bismarck's whereabouts?"

"No," Shirley said, "he's vanished along with the other Charles loyalists. If he's anywhere, it's Hawaii, since they still haven't announced if they side with us or Schneizel."

Lelouch nodded. The doors burst open and Euphy ran into the room. "L-lelouch," she said, doubled over and panting for breath, "I-I forgot to ask you how realistic-"

"I want this to be extremely realistic," Lelouch said, "and I even know where to draw Schneizel to."

"You do?" Euphy said.

Lelouch nodded and walked over to his map. "Damocles can move very quickly," he said, "Euphy, we're holding your wedding here in Pendragon, correct?"

"Yeah."

"Announce that, for security reasons, we're holding it in Japan instead," Lelouch said.

"Why Japan?" Euphy said.

"Because I have an idea," Lelouch replied, looking at a little pictorial representation of Mt. Fuji, "one that I don't think he'll predict at all…"

* * *

Fake wedding or not, it was the happiest day of Suzaku's life.

He knew that was an absolute cliché, but he actually had a reason for it beyond the fake wedding.

No, it was the first birthday he was going to spend with Euphy. He had met her back in April 2017. She had been in a coma during her 17th birthday, about a month after the massacre, which meant that her first birthday that they would spend together as friends, as lovers, and as fiancé and fiancée was today.

They were in Japan for the wedding. Lelouch had his reasons, Suzaku was sure, but they hadn't fully been shared with him yet. They had arrived only the day before and been driven by Black Knights to a hotel that had been erected where one had once stood, a year before. When Suzaku woke up, he stole out of his hotel room and knocked on Euphy's hotel door. She opened it right away.

"Happy birthday, Euphy," Suzaku said, holding out a bag to her.

Euphy smiled. "Come in," she said.

She shut the door behind her and they sat down on her bad. "You ready for today?" Suzaku said.

Euphy looked at him and nodded. "I got the flight suit from Rakshata – want me to model it for you?" she said, winking at him.

"Maybe later," Suzaku replied.

Euphy adjusted her glasses a little and looked at the bag. "Can I open this now?" she said.

"Yeah," Suzaku said, "I had it specially made."

Euphy gasped a little as she pulled a garment made of purple silk from the bag. "Is this-"

"Part of a kimono," Suzaku said, "I – well, most of it's actually in a small shop back in Tokyo, I'm trying to get the Japanese back on their feet, but – well-"

Euphy put the kimono back in her bag and hugged Suzaku. "Thank you, Suzaku!" she said.

"You like it?"

"Yeah. Though… isn't there supposed to be a special hanger?" Euphy said.

Suzaku laughed awkwardly. "Well, uh, it didn't fit in the bag… I'm gonna have this sent back to the shop but I wanted you to see it first…"

Euphy smiled. "Well, thank you for showing it to me," she said, "I guess we can pick it up tonight."

Suzaku nodded. Then he winced as he felt something dig into his leg. "W-" He reached under the bed and pulled out Arthur. "I thought we left you in Pendragon!"

"Arthur followed us out here in my plane," Euphy said, petting him. "I think he's felt like you've been ignoring him for months."

"I've been busy!" Suzaku said. He tried petting Arthur too, though Arthur hissed at him. "I mean, I thought he died in the FLEIJA-"

"Do you think Schneizel will use them again today?" Euphy said.

"Huh?"

"I mean, we know he has a lot," Euphy said, "do you think-"

"Yeah," Suzaku said. "Listen, Euphy, don't do anything stupid. Don't rush to stop the FLEIJAs. I can't lose you again."

"But if I can stop one death…" Euphy said.

Suzaku shook his head, reached out, and took her hand. "You can stop so many more deaths by being alive, Euphy," he said. "Please, listen to me about that."

"Alright," Euphy said. She put her hand on his arm and said, "hey, Suzaku, even if I tell you to save yourself, you're still gonna try and save me anyways, aren't you?"

"My whole life is sworn to you," Suzaku said, "that happened the day you chose me for your knight."

"You're the knight of zero first, Suzaku," Euphy replied.

"No," Suzaku said, "I am your knight first."

Euphy smiled. "So you keep telling me," she said. She pushed Suzaku lightly onto his back then straddled him so she could look down into his eyes. "Hey, Suzaku, when we  _do_ get married, what should we do about our last names?"

"What do you mean?"

"Normally, someone marrying into the royal family takes that name. More prestige," Euphy said, "but I want to take your name too. How about 'Kururugi-li Britannia'?"

"Sounds good to me," Suzaku replied.

"Alright," Euphy said. They enthusiastically shared a kiss, and then a few more. But Euphy broke off before they went too far. "We can continue when there's more time," Euphy said, standing up and brushing off her pajamas.

Suzaku laughed and got up too. "Not sure I'd feel comfortable having sex with Arthur in the room anyways," he said, shrugging.

Euphy blushed a little and said, "yeah." She walked over to the mirror and looked at herself. "You know, it's hard to believe how pale I was four months ago," she said, and she touched her cheek right below her left eye.

"You were still beautiful back then," Suzaku replied.

"And now?" Euphy said.

"You look beautiful in whatever you wear," Suzaku replied.

Euphy pulled the hem of her shirt up a little to stare at the bullet scar on her stomach. "Even with this?"

"Even with that," Suzaku replied. "It's a sign of a miracle, Euphy. How can I be mad about that?"

Euphy turned around and smiled more. "Thank you, Suzaku," she said. "See you later."

"See you later," Suzaku said. He went into the hallway and shut the door once Arthur had followed him outside. He picked Arthur up, who mewled at him, and he said, "alright, this place is going to be dangerous soon. I'm sending you back to Tokyo, ok?"

Arthur meowed and bit him. "Ouch! Arthur!" Suzaku said, and he went back to his room. He sighed as he sat down on his bed. "You know, Arthur, I kind of wish that this  _was_ our wedding day," he said, "she's so kind and so beautiful…"

Arthur meowed.

"She'll always be beautiful to me, no matter what she wears or how old she is," Suzaku said sharply to Arthur. Arthur cocked his head as he looked up at Suzaku. Then he bit Suzaku again.

* * *

Despite Suzaku's earlier comments to Arthur, there was something exquisitely attractive about seeing Euphy in a wedding dress. "How do you like it?" Euphy said, twirling about so he could see all of it.

"It's beautiful. You're beautiful. I- it's great," Suzaku said, smiling at her. She smiled back.

The door to the changing room opened and Gino walked in. "Dude, it's bad luck to see the bride in her dress before the ceremony!" Gino said.

Euphy and Suzaku looked at each other and then at Gino. "You  _do_ know what's actually going on, right, Gino?" Suzaku said.

"Well, yeah, Kallen told me, but it doesn't change anything," Gino said.

"Our  _actual_ wedding's still not going to be for a while," Euphy said.

"If you hurry, you and Kallen can still beat us," Suzaku said.

"Nah, we're not anywhere near that point," Gino said, "I mean, we're hitting it off, but we're not going to get engaged any time soon, I don't think."

The door opened again, and Kallen looked in. "Hey, Gino, Lelouch wants to know if you've got everything ready," she said.

"Sure thing," Gino said.

Kallen looked from Gino to Euphy and Suzaku. "My boyfriend's not harassing you guys, is he?" Kallen said.

Gino laughed and said, "nah, more like them harassing me. Asking when we're gonna get married."

"We can talk about that after we've dealt with Schneizel," Kallen replied. "You guys make sure you're ready."

About ten minutes later, Suzaku entered the chapel. It was a makeshift outdoors chapel, one rebuilt on Japanese Christian ground in the shadow of Mt. Fuji. Lelouch, as best man, was already waiting at the front with Suzaku, while a disguised Jeremiah was the priest. The crowd was filled with lots of VIP targets – from Kaguya to Empress Tianzi, and Shirley to CC – and Diethard was already recording.

Sayoko began playing the organ and the traditional wedding fanfare. The door to the chapel opened and in walked Euphy, dressed in her wedding dress with a veil over her face, and Cornelia escorting her. They marched to the front, and then Suzaku and Euphy stood in front of Jeremiah.

"Marriage," Jeremiah said, "marriage is what brings us here, together, today. Marriage, that blessed arrangement, that dream within a dream, and love, true love, will follow you forever..."

As Jeremiah kept talking about marriage and true love, Suzaku kept his eyes on the crowd by watching the reflection in the glass behind the alter. Something beeped on CC's comms link, and then she leaned over and whispered something to Shirley. Then Shirley got up, snuck behind the couple, and whispered something in Lelouch's ear.

"Now, Suzaku Kururugi, do you take Lady Euphemia li Britannia to be your wife, to honor, love, protect, and cherish all the days of your life?" Jeremiah said.

"Yes," Suzaku said.

"And do you, Euphemia li Britannia, take Sir Suzaku Kururugi to be your husband, to honor, love, protect, and cherish all the days of your life?" Jeremiah said to Euphy.

"I-I do," Euphy said.

"Very well," Jeremiah said. "Always treasure your love. Now, his majesty has a few words for you."

Suzaku and Euphy looked at Lelouch. "Congratulations, you two," Lelouch said, "now, I call on you two to exercise one of your promises – to protect each other until an  _actual_ wedding can be held."

"As the Knight of Three," Jeremiah said, ripping off his vestments to show his normal suit, "I hereby invite you both to defend the UFN, Japan, and the United States of Britannia!"

"Yes, my lord!" Euphy and Suzaku chorused. Lelouch took out his chess-piece button and mashed the button down.

And then the chapel collapsed and the nearby lake began erupting as knightmares shot out of it. The Lancelot Albion landed next to Suzaku, while the Guinevere Albion, a knightmare similar to Lancelot Albion's design, except black with white striped and tooled more towards defenses and knightmare disabling, landed next to Euphy.

All of the guests were assigned to a knightmare, except for Kaguya, Tianzi, Nunnally and Sayoko, the last of which spirited the other three away. Even Shirley had an assignment, as she loaded into the modified Shinkiro with Lelouch, her formal dress ripped away in favor of a Black Knights uniform.

Suzaku took flight and watched as the  _Ikaruga_ and a cloud of Black Knight aircraft and knightmares came around Mt. Fuji. Then he turned and his breath was taken away as he looked at Schneizel's forces. The most obvious, eye-catching thing was the Damocles, a gigantic technological pillar topped by a villa – Schneizel's new palace, no doubt. Energy shields glimmered in the sunlight. And around the Damocles were a huge cloud of knightmares, including twelve knightmares also shimmering with shields.

"Schneizel and his new knights of the round, eh?" Gino said over radio.

Suzaku used the Lancelot Albion's vision-enhancer to observe the enemy knightmares. "Looks like Schneizel's brought all of his Vincents," Suzaku said, "the original knights of the round look like they have souped-up knightmares, three of them look like they're just copies, and there's one I don't recognize…"

"Suzaku," Kallen said, "do you know who Schneizel offered his knight of one position to?"

"No idea," Suzaku replied.

Lelouch's face popped up in the HUD. "Alright, all my loyal knights," he said, "from here on out you will follow Zero's commands."

"Yes, my Lord," echoed Suzaku, Gino, Anya, Jeremiah, Rolo, and Guilford. Lelouch's other elite 'knights of the round', such as they were, were still under geass, so they simply said, "all hail Zero!"

"Lelouch," CC said, "I don't know how long we have before Schneizel figures out we sabotaged his long-range missiles."

"Probably when he would've tried launching missiles at us before the wedding started," Lelouch replied. "However, his middle-range ones should still be operable, hence why he's here." Then he said, closing his HUD screen and continuing in Zero's voice: "all Black Knights! Stand at attention! Ohgi, Alstreim, 1st and 8th battalions, prepare to fire all weaponry on my signal!"

Suzaku moved his scans from the currently-stationary enemy to the Damocles. Part of its shield dropped, and three missiles launched. "Missiles detected," Shirley announced.

"Fire!" Lelouch ordered.

The  _Ikaruka_ , Anya's souped-up Mordred, and the two battalions began firing their energy weapons into the expanse between the Damocles and the Black Knights. "One… two… three hits confirmed," Shirley said.

"Schneizel can't recruit new elite pilots well, so he probably won't launch FLEIJA into his troops," Lelouch said, "all forces! Move in! Close the distance!"

All forces began advancing forward towards Schneizel's troops. "Zero, you should fall back," Ohgi said.

"A king must lead," Lelouch replied, "all forces except those engaging enemy knights of the round, a general order – if the Damocles fires a missile, throw everything you have at it. FLEIJAs have a specific trigger for detonation, and if the missile is damaged they can't use it."

"Yes, sir," came a general chorus over the radio.

"We need to clear out the knights of the round and then assault the Damocles," Lelouch said, "I want our own elites taking on the knights of the round. 7th Battalion, protect the  _Ikaruka_."

"Yes, sir!" the troops chorused.

Suzaku called Euphy, and her face appeared on the HUD. "Are you ready?" Suzaku said.

"Of course," Euphy said.

"Let's go, then," Suzaku said. He turned on his line to the Black Knight-integrated Britannian forces and said, "for his majesty and the republic!"

"All hail Lelouch! All hail the United States of Britannia!" the Britannians chorused.

"For the freedom of Japan!" Euphy called over her Black Knight frequency.

"Long live Japan!" the Black Knights said, "long live Zero and the United Federation of Nations!"

Euphy closed her HUD screen, and then Suzaku and Euphy shot off the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And time for the climax to begin! Only a few more chapters to go.


	13. Chapter 13

Suzaku tuned Lelouch out as the latter gave further orders. He already knew that he and Euphy were to work on taking out knights of the round closest to the Damocles, so that they could be ready for the next phase of the plan.

"Who's making these knightmares?" Euphy said as the two began flying towards the Damocles.

"I don't know," Suzaku said, "their knight of one looks  _more_ advanced than our ninth-generation knightmares…"

"There's not many of 9th on either side, though," Euphy said. Suzaku nodded – only himself, Euphy, Gino, and Kallen had 9th generation because either you had to be an exceptionally talented pilot, or you had to have a specialized computer to control a 9th. Only Euphy had the computer-backed 9th right now, because Lelouch and Suzaku wanted to keep her safe; even Rolo, Tohdoh, Xingke, and Lelouch were still using their 8th generation knightmares.

Suzaku was broken out of his thoughts by Euphy saying, "Alright, Suzaku. Let's go."

"Yes, my lady," Suzaku replied. "How's piloting in a wedding dress, by the way?"

Euphy's face popped up on his HUD again. She wasn't wearing the wedding dress anymore, but rather a form-fitting flight suit. "Took it off when I turned my HUD off," Euphy replied.

"Ah."

Schneizel launched a few more missiles, but they were easily shot down by Anya and the  _Ikaruga_. "Do you think those missiles even have FLEIJAs?" Euphy said.

"Probably not," Suzaku said, "he's probably just trying to get a handle on how we're countering his missiles."

Euphy nodded. "First enemy approaching," Euphy said.

Suzaku turned his attention to the knight rapidly approaching. Then he smiled. He put on his speakers and said, "Monica Krushevsky, knight of twelve," Suzaku said, "I'm surprised to see you here."

The enemy knightmare ahead of him, the Florence, stopped and floated motionlessly. "Suzaku Kururugi, a man who makes his way by betrayal," Monica replied, "your loyalty is breathtaking."

"My loyalties are, as they have always been, to Princess Euphemia," Suzaku replied. "However, I remember your loyalty was to the Emperor. To hear that you sided with Schneizel-"

He began receiving a comms request. Suzaku blinked and pressed the request, and Monica's face appeared on his HUD. "Sir Kururugi," she said, "I am and will remain a loyalist to Emperor Charles."

"Then you were a spy?" Suzaku said.

Monica nodded. "I will admit that geass shook my faith in his majesty…"

"What now?" Suzaku said, "Charles is dead. Lelouch killed him. Schneizel tried to. Wherever Bismarck is-"

"Bismarck is fast approaching," Monica replied. "I have no empire left to go to. I will fight with Bismarck, and after this war… well, I approve of Lelouch's changes. We'll see what happens. But I have no reason to stand in your way. Go, avenge his majesty against Schneizel."

Her HUD disappeared and then Suzaku glanced at Euphy. "Hit her with a Gefjun missile," Suzaku said.

Euphy nodded, and the Guinevere fired a missile from its back. It exploded around the Florence, disabling it and then binding it with glowing white cords. "Thanks, Monica," Suzaku said, and the two prepared to rush forward again.

Suzaku glanced back at the fight to see that the flanks had met and mass fighting was already beginning. "One slipped through!" came Shirley's voice, "all units, brace!"

Suzaku grabbed Euphy and Monica and pulled them away as a bright blue blast lit up the sky, taking out a whole battalion of Black Knights. The shockwave threw them a little bit through the sky, but after righting himself Suzaku righted the Florence then took off after the Damocles again.

He glanced at his rear-view monitor and saw that Euphy was trailing him closely. She raised her cannon and fired, and Suzaku glanced forward to see three enemy knightmares launch their ejection seats. He examined the base of the Damocles and saw that Kallen was already sparring with the enemy 9th generation. Gino was fighting another knight of the round, one of the mass-produced ones.

"Suzaku!"

Suzaku only barely dodged a blast from the Palamedes, Dorothea Ernst's knightmare. Suzaku flipped around to see Ernst's hadron cannons snap back to its hands. "The traitor royal and the traitor knight," Enrst broadcast, "how fitting that you should die before his majesty, Emperor Schneizel!"

She fired her cannons at Euphy, but a shimmering energy shield deflected the cannons – into the float units of nearby enemy knightmares. "Sorry, Ernst," Suzaku said, "but you're out of your league."

He activated the Albion's energy wing and was behind Ernst in seconds. "What-" she said, and Suzaku drew his swords.

"Nothing personal," Suzaku said, and he brought his swords down.

Then glowing shields activated around Ernst and Suzaku's swords slid down the Palamedes. "Lord Kanon and his Majesty have upgraded our knightmares!" Ernst said triumphantly, "you cannot-"

"Euphy, now!" Suzaku shouted.

Ernst's comms cut off as the Guinevere shot its slash harkens into the Palamedes and latched onto the shields. "Deactivating shields!" Euphy said, and energy began pouring into the Palamedes and the shields began crackling.

"W-what are you doing!?" Ernst cried.

"Blaze luminous can only absorb so much energy," Suzaku said, and then he raised his swords again, slashed through the shields and severed the Palamedes' arms. "And we have your computer systems too!"

Euphy shot a cord into the Palamedes, and then it deactivated. "Automatic ejection!?" Ernst said, "damn you, Suzaku!"

Euphy shot a second set of slash harkens from the Guinevere's wrists into Palamedes. Then, grabbing the cords, she spun Palamedes away as the ejection seat fired and Ernst was sent drifting off into the sky.

"I don't have another charge on that. But – two down, ten to go," Euphy said.

* * *

When the fighting had begun, Kallen and Gino had shot forward. Lelouch had specifically assigned her to take out the 9th generation knightmare, a great white knightmare with twin hilts on its side and modified energy wings. Gino was to keep everything else off her back. "Hey, Kallen," Gino said, "have you thought about naming the Guren?"

"It has a name. Guren," Kallen replied.

"I thought that was the model name?"

"That's what the Tristan is," Kallen said.

"No, it's a name I picked, and  _then_ they made the knightmare with the name of Tristan," Gino said. "Here, I've gotta name. Iseult."

"What?"

"It's the name of the princess that Sir Tristan fell in love with in Arthurian legend," Gino said.

Kallen looked at him in her HUD. "Gino," she said slowly, "I'm  _Japanese_.  _Britannia_ uses the Arthurian naming scheme. I'm not an official of Britannia."

"But you  _are_ an officer of the Black Knights. Which means we have the same boss," Gino said, "so what's the harm?"

The two of them easily cleared out some of Schneizel's troops and went back to their banter. "The harm, Gino," Kallen said, "is that the Guren is uniquely Japanese. If you're going to give me a name, at least give me one from a Japanese story."

"I, uh, I'm not very well-versed on those," Gino said. "You know. Been busy."

They dodged another pair of attacks and easily dispatched their attackers. "What have you been so busy with?" Kallen said, "weren't you just running odd jobs for Lelouch?"

"Well, springing Marrybell and her knight from prison wasn't easy," Gino said.

"I was there for that one, Gino," Kallen replied.

"And  _then_ there was putting down a nobles' rebellion in Cuba-"

"Didn't Jeremiah do most of the work?"

" _And_ I had to supervise Rakshata and Lloyd working on the Tristan-"

"Gino, I know that you don't know any more about engineering than I do."

" _And_ I was trying to be a good boyfriend!"

"Well, I guess I can't fault your nightly calls," Kallen said, smiling a little at him.

The HUD lit up with warnings. Kallen looked ahead and saw the 9th generation. "Alright, Kallen, you've got this," Gino said.

Gino began to veer off for another knight of the round, one of the mass-produced models one, floating by the 9th generation. "Hey, Gino," Kallen said as she prepared to fire her cannon at the enemy, "one more tip. I know Suzaku and Euphy picked a pair of doomed lovers for their robots, but let's not go down that route, shall we?"

Gino laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Y'know, I'm not entirely sure why we kept picking traitors for robot names, to be honest," Gino said, "I guess it really comes down to Lloyd. He's the one who developed all of these."

Gino closed his HUD, and Kallen focused her attention on the 9th generation. "You!" Kallen said, switching to loudspeaker, "who are you!?"

"Kallen Kozuki," came the smooth voice of Kanon Maldini, "I'm grateful for your arrival. My lord has bid me defend the Damocles. I will obey."

"And for the sake of world peace, the Damocles must fall," Kallen said. She shot her arm at Kanon and said, "good night, Maldini."

And then the 9th generation was suddenly… gone. Kallen whipped around to see the 9th generation right behind her, a great knight sword of energy in its hands. "The Percival is perhaps the fastest knightmare in existence," Kanon said, "even faster than the Guren SEITEN…"

"Where did you find the engineers for this?" Kallen said as she dodged a flurry of sword strikes.

"There were plenty in Europa United that we could compel to action," Kanon said, "it's amazing what kind of quality you can wring out of people when they live under threat of the FLEIJA." He chuckled and said, "and further, my lord and I are no slouches in engineering either. Asplund may have defected, but he was not the only member of the Camelot unit."

Kallen grabbed one of the Percival's swords with her hand and fired a point-blank blast into it. The sword was untouched. "What?"

"The greatest of all Europa and Britannian technology is concentrated into the Percival," Kanon replied. He brought his sword down at Kallen, but she killed her flight wing and plummeted for a few seconds, allowing her to dodge his sword.

Kallen dodged more hits as she contacted Lloyd. "What  _is_ this thing?" she demanded.

"The what?"

Kallen showed him a picture of the Percival, and he gasped. "They finished it!?" Lloyd said.

"What's so surprising?"

"The Percival was our first 10th-generation knightmare frame. It has constant Blaze Luminous along its whole body and moves so fast that we needed a dedicated system to stop it from killing its pilots," Lloyd said. He shook his head and said, "but I'm so surprised because that system would've required an AI so strong it could fly its own knightmare. And we have no idea how to do that."

He hung up as Kallen dodged another slash from Kanon. "You're a slippery one, Kozuki," he said.

"You're a better pilot than I thought, Maldini," Kallen replied.

"I've had plenty of time to practice, nor have I ever revealed all of my cards," Kanon said. "But all I need to do is buy time anyways, until those missiles can be ready for launch again."

"What missiles?" Kallen said.

"The ones that will end this war in one strike," Kanon said. The Percival drew its second sword and charged at Kallen. She dodged it again, but she knew without something comparable, there wasn't much she could do.

"Babe!"

Kallen looked up to see the Tristan soar overhead and drop one of its swords. Kallen grabbed it and said, "so, Maldini, you're looking for an old-fashioned sword fight? I'll give you one!"

She charged in.

* * *

Cornelia and Guilford had been assigned to lead the left flank of the Black Knights. Guilford had fully recovered from barely escaping FLEIJA, and the spearhead of the empire had been given a new position as knight of five. He was piloting his own knightmare, the Agravaine. Cornelia, for her part, had been given one she called the Gareth. Cornelia had been given operational command over the entire left flank, and she meant to use it. "All forces, move in and provide Schneizel with an impossible-to-hit target," Cornelia said.

She managed to pull her forces out of the way of a FLEIJA that detonated in the center, and then she watched with satisfaction as her forces closed in on the enemy. "Guilford," Cornelia said, "we need to take down their knights of the round. Handle the mass-produced one."

"Yes, my lady," Guilford said, and he peeled away.

Cornelia set her sights on the other knightmare ahead of her. It was the Elaine, the personal knightmare of her senior in military academy – Nonette Enneagram. One of the very few people in the world that Cornelia feared.

She deployed her energy spear and watched as the Elaine raised its cannon. A comm link request popped up on her HUD, which Cornelia granted. Nonette stared back at her from the screen. "Hello, Cornelia," she said, "shame it comes to this."

"I'm backing the rightful emperor," Cornelia said stubbornly. She looped around the Elaine's shots and fired beams of energy from her lance that the Elaine easily dodged.

"Are you?" Nonette said, "I suppose the  _rightful_ emperor now is Odysseus, but that doesn't matter when he's under geass, does it?"

"No," Cornelia said. "My father always preached survival of the fittest. Lelouch practiced it. I'm sure my father would be proud of that."

"I don't know," Nonette said, "Emperor Charles was yet another filthy user of geass – like Lelouch, like Marybell, like that Rolo, hell, probably more in your ranks. FLEIJA will cleanse the world of those freaks."

Nonette clipped Cornelia's float unit with her gun, and it took a second for the float unit to redistribute its thrust, during which Cornelia plummeted. "Using FLEIJA to kill only a handful of geass users?" Cornelia said, "how many will die for that plan to work?"

"The world can rebuild," Nonette replied. "World peace will come about through his Majesty's plan, anyways."

"World peace?" Cornelia said.

"Ah, I've said too much," Nonette said. He shot a few more times at Cornelia, who deflected the shots with her lance. "Still, an energy lance? So like you, Cornelia. So impractical."

"I'm aware," Cornelia said, "what can I say? My father's flair for the dramatic is genetic."

"So it seems," Nonette said dryly.

Cornelia wished that she had been given a 9th generation too, but her model wasn't finished yet before this battle – she had told them to prioritize Euphy's. But the Elaine seemed stronger than Cornelia remembered, using shields to easily block arcs and beams from Cornelia's spear, and easily staying out of range of close combat, where Cornelia knew she would win.

"Face it, Cornelia," Nonette said, "I've always been better. Princess or not, you've always been my underclassman." She leveled her gun at Cornelia and said, "all hail the true Britannia."

Cornelia looked up from the HUD and took a deep breath. "All hail indeed," Cornelia said, and she charged directly at Nonette, only barely dodging the enemy beam.

* * *

Lelouch was observing the battle from the Shinkiro. Shirley was right behind him, coordinating reports from different fronts and relaying them to him. He was proud of how skilled and professional she was at processing information. Really, the only unprofessional thing she did was at his insistence – she was not allowed to call him "sir" since they were to be on equal grounds. CC was the only other person with that exception.

Speaking of CC, she was in her pink knightmare on the right flank with Jeremiah. Tohdoh was commander of that flank, with Chiba and Xingke as reinforcement. Cornelia and Guilford were in the left flank. Lelouch himself was leading the center, with Rolo behind him, freezing people with his geass and then taking them out with his Vincent Ultra. Euphy, Suzaku, Gino, and Kallen were all headed towards the Damocles, and Anya and her forces were providing cover fire – constant fire at the Damocles, intercepting its medium-range missiles and keeping its shields running full-power, which was absolutely necessary for his plan.

Lelouch glanced at a report from the  _Ikaruga_. It was doing fine structurally – Ohgi was performing admirably. Outside of the  _Ikaruga_ Viletta drifted in a modified Vincent. She had insisted on joining the battle, but Lelouch had assigned her to the rearguard after Ohgi took him aside and told him that Viletta was pregnant. Apparently Eberhardt and Westinghouse had encouraged Ohgi and Viletta to tell Lelouch, and so they had done (though Viletta wasn't happy about it).

Speaking of Eberhardt and Westinghouse, they were leading the Black Knights' medics in going around and picking up downed pilots. They had also retrieved Monica Krushevsky from her drifting knightmare and Dorothea Ernst, both of whom had been taken out by Suzaku and Euphy.

Lelouch checked on his last sectors of soldiers. Tamaki was part of a sweeping maneuver to cut off any reinforcements for Schneizel, and Lelouch's geass'd half-sister Marybell, one of the few royals besides Cornelia to have extensive training with knightmares, had been given enough leeway to be able to command her own forces on the ground that were clashing with Schneizel's own ground forces.

"Nina reports that her part of the plan is complete, Zero," Shirley said, "what should I tell the  _Ikaruga_?"

"Tell them to standby," Lelouch said.

Shirley nodded. "Curie, standby," Shirley said, using the codename for Nina, " _Ikaruga_ , continue support operation with Alstreim."

"Roger," came Diethard's voice.

"Yes, sir," came Cécile's voice.

Lelouch glanced at his map and saw more forces streaming in, unknowns, from the skies over the Pacific Ocean. He activated one of the cameras from the  _Ikaruga_ and frowned when he saw who it was: Bismarck and the other Charles loyalists.

"Shirley, open a channel to Bismarck," Lelouch said.

"Yes, Zero," Shirley said.

A second later, Bismarck's face appeared on Lelouch's HUD. He began glowering at Lelouch. "So, the false emperor, the murderer of Emperor Charles, and the destroyer of a plan for a world with no lies," Bismarck said, "have you appeared to beg for mercy?"

"Oh, of course not," Lelouch replied. "I merely want to extend an olive branch."

"Which is?" Bismarck said.

"Had Schneizel's plans with the FLEIJA gone according to plan, Kamine Island would have been obliterated, and while I'm sure that my father wouldn't  _die_ from it, it would probably take him some time to regenerate from being atomized," Lelouch said. "But instead, I tampered with Schneizel's FLEIJAs. His alpha strike didn't work. Without me, Charles' plan couldn't have even started."

Bismarck was silent as he seemed to contemplate this. "Then you pretend as if I owe you something over this," Bismarck said.

"Yes," Lelouch said, "I have merely acted like my father before me, in using geass to seize the throne. Unlike him, I have left a smaller trail of carnage in my wake – why, I've even tried to minimize casualties recently. I still want an empire to reign over, after all."

"Then you claim that your actions make you Charles' heir?" Bismarck said.

Lelouch nodded. "I'm sure Schneizel will claim the same," Lelouch said, "but either way, Bismarck, there is no ready successor for Charles. The others are under my command. It's Schneizel or me."

"I reject both of you," Bismarck replied. "However… I will slay Schneizel first, then you."

Lelouch smirked. "I'm deeply honored, Sir Bismarck," Lelouch said, "however, Schneizel is trapped within the Damocles. If you wish to get in, you'll have to go through Kanon Maldini."

"Maldini? What does he know of knightmares?" Bismarck said. He closed his channel and then Bismarck and his forces soared towards the center.

"Shirley, tell all forces not to harm the loyalists," Lelouch said.

"Yes, Zero."

* * *

Kallen's fight with Kanon wasn't going so well. Her main problem was that she didn't actually know how to sword-fight well. But Gino was still finishing off the last of the mass-produced knights, and Kanon's lightning-fast speed was preventing her from using her own speed against him.

"Kallen!" Shirley said suddenly, appearing on Kallen's HUD, "Bismarck and the loyalists are sweeping in. Make sure not to hurt them!"

"Yes, sir," Kallen said. Shirley's image disappeared, and Kallen turned her attention back to the fight, barely blocking Kanon's twin swords with her own. "Gino, are you almost-"

"Almost done, darling," Gino replied.

"Darling? What are you, 40?" Kallen said.

"Needle me on that later," Gino said, and his channel closed again.

Kallen managed to swerve out of the way as Bismarck arrived and brought his sword, Excalibur, down on Kanon. But Kanon easily blocked it. "Sir Bismarck, you arrive to fight me too?" Kanon said, "how deeply sad. His Majesty had hoped you would recognize him as the rightful heir."

"Neither you nor Lelouch are rightful heirs," Bismarck replied. "But your fight against me is hopeless, Maldini!"

"Quite," Kanon replied, "I mean, you believe that your geass, the ability to read people's intentions, will mean you're invincible, correct?"

Kanon shot forward and slashed at Kallen, forcing her back through the sky until she almost hit Gino. "Sorry," she said, and she shot out her arm at the knightmare he was fighting, obliterating it.

"Thanks," Gino said. "Are you gonna leave the fight up to Bismarck?"

"Yeah," Kallen replied.

She and Gino began ascending, fighting their way through some of Schneizel's reinforcements until they could hear Kanon and Bismarck's external speakers again. The two seemed rather evenly matched, all things considered, with neither yielding as they bore their swords into the others'. "Now, Bismarck," Kanon said, "I have you right where I need you."

"What do you mean?" Bismarck said.

The shield of the Damocles dissipated temporarily and a set of twelve, compact jet-black knightmares flew out. The shield went back up. "Meet the Pawns," Kanon said, and two shot after Gino and Kallen, another six shot off into the distance, and the last four charged in towards Bismarck. "They're equipped with a rudimentary combat AI. I know that geass requires whatever you're fighting to have a mind. These don't."

Bismarck howled as the four Pawns shot their Slash Harkens into him, each tethering him and then began flying in four opposite directions, holding him up like the Valkyrie Squadron once had for Bradley. Then the bodies of the four Pawns opened up, each revealing a large Hadron cannon, that all began firing into Bismarck. His shields were running overtime, but the beams were starting to bore into the Galahad's arm and leg joints.

Kallen rushed forward to try and help, but then a Pawn dove into her, pushing her so hard that the Guren went flying into the Tristan.

"Now, Sir Bismarck-" Kanon said, "you can see the future – so watch death approach!" Kanon disengaged from Bismarck, soared high into the sky, and then dove down at Bismarck in less than a second. With one fluid strike, he cut the Galahad in half, and then it exploded. Bismarck was dead.

The four Pawns and Kanon turned their attention to Kallen and Gino. "Now, for the pesky top ace of the Black Knights," Kanon said.

* * *

Euphy and Suzaku were headed towards the Damocles still. Euphy knew that two of the knights of the round were down, Kallen and Gino were fighting two, Cornelia and Guilford were fighting two, CC and Jeremiah were fighting two, the geass'd soldiers on the ground were fighting one, Xingke and Tohdoh were fighting two, and one more was unaccounted for.

But the plan couldn't continue until they were  _all_ down. But Euphy didn't know how to find the others. "Euphy," Suzaku said, "we have something incoming."

"What's that?"

"I… I don't know."

Six black knightmares shot past them, and two arced away from the other four to blast towards the Lancelot and the Guinevere. Euphy shot a Gefjun Disrupter missile at one, and the blast took out one of the black knightmares. It was kind of short and squat – there was no way they had a pilot in them – but then the other knightmare stopped and tore the cords off of it, freeing it before it could plummet.

"Let's destroy them," Suzaku said.

"Right," Euphy said. Suzaku rushed forward and brought his swords down on the rightmost knightmare, but it raised a shield that it used to block the sword. The other one rushed towards Euphy, so she pulled a handle from the Guinevere's back that extended into an energy pike.

She didn't have much experience with it, and she knew it would show, but fortunately the reflexes of these black knightmares weren't very fast. Euphy brought the pike up into the black knightmare, hitting one of its joints and severing it.

Suzaku dodged out of the way of the second knightmare and plunged his sword into the first knightmare. "Get out of there!" Euphy yelled, and she raised as shields as the knightmare self-destructed. "Suzaku-"

"I'm fine," he said, appearing out of the cloud of debris, "the blaze luminous is stronger than these things!"

The second knightmare's body split open, to reveal a giant hadron cannon. It began firing, and Euphy and Suzaku split in order to avoid the attack. "Normally, if it's firing it can't use its shields," Suzaku said. Euphy nodded and raised her cannon. She fired a string of shells into it… and then shields blocked the shots. It turned its cannon towards Euphy.

"The only place with no shields is the cannon!" Euphy said, "Suzaku, can you block the cannon?"

"Yeah," Suzaku said, and he raised his shield and charged into the flow of the Hadron canon. "H-hurry, Euphy!"

Euphy lined up a shot with her cannons and fired a shell directly into the cannon. The cannon stopped firing and started sparking and then, with a bright flash of white, the second knightmare also self-destructed. She patched into her comms. "Zero, there were more of those things-"

"Jeremiah's on it," Lelouch replied, "continue with your mission!"

"Yes, sir," Euphy said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I have a lot of behind-the-scenes notes for this chapter. First off, I chose Kanon for the final knightmare pilot and gave him an ultra-super robot so that it wouldn't just be Kallen and Suzaku curb-stomping everyone like it should be. Furthermore, Ernst's knightmare and IIRC Monica's knightmares come not from the show (where only their cockpits are shown during Suzaku's curbstomp) but from some of the side-games.
> 
> As an aside, Euphy piloting a knightmare is an idea I got from one of the spin-off games that was, if I remember right, a Japan-only Nintendo DS game wherein Euphy gets a pink Siegfried. I decided to just give her a Lancelot though since, well, Lord Orange needs his orange.
> 
> Further, Cornelia and Nonette's relationship is also from side-material per the wiki, as is Nonette's unnamed knightmare (I named it here because why not), and Nonette uses a big gun since she's associated with guns in, you guessed it, one of the spin-off Japan only I think games. Nonette's reference to Marrybell and her having a geass is a reference to yet another side-story, a spin-off also only in Japan. In that story, Marrybell was something like Viceroy of Spain and had her own special unit, but here Schneizel just coopted it and her thrown in prison, and then Lelouch sprang her out off-screen and geass'd her like all of his other non-important siblings.
> 
> All of the Britannian knightmare names are references to Athurian legend. Percival, the most important of the lot, was supplanted by Galahad in the grail myth, so I guess here he got revenge.
> 
> Finally, the reference to powerful computers used in Euphy's 9th generation and Kanon's 10th is a reference to real-world flying wings like the B2 bomber. Flying wings actually date back to World War II, but they weren't revived in any number until more recent computer developments meant that you didn't have to be insanely skilled/lucky to fly them.


	14. Chapter 14

Cornelia was still facing down Nonette. So far, Cornelia had not been able to close in, and had only barely avoided her previous blasts. "Tell me, Cornelia," Nonette said, "what prayer do you have against me? Why keep fighting?"

"My sister wants a gentle world, and you're in the way of that," Cornelia replied.

" _I_ am? Who, exactly, was one of the top generals of Britannia again?" Nonette said, "who was it that conquered the Middle East – thank you for that, by the way – and who was it who almost lost  _everything_ fighting Zero?"

"I don't fight out of loyalty to Zero," Cornelia said, "but I know the truth of what happened with Lady Marianne and my father and VV now. I know why Lelouch fought like he did, and I know why Euphy supports him even now. I trust my little sister, and thus I'll fight."

Nonette scoffed. "Reason or not, you're not going to be able to beat me," Nonette said. She blasted her gun at Cornelia again and said, "what is it the Japanese say? Ah, yes – sayonara, Goddess of Victory."

But Cornelia grinned savagely at her and plowed into Nonette's blast. "If I'm the goddess of victory," Cornelia said as she charged right towards Nonette, and as Nonette's face in the HUD broke into a look of fear, "then I shall win this battle, regardless of my life!" She shot her lance forward, past the beam, and then activated the arm launch like Kallen's, letting the spear go flying right towards Nonette. "All I needed was a little more distance and I  _win_."

Nonette screamed on the HUD as a spear punched through her cockpit and through her gut. "Lo-long live  _Britannia_ ," Nonette said, coughing up blood, and the Elaine exploded.

Cornelia was sent tumbling back. "Warning: float unit compromised. Warning: blaze luminous compromised. Warning: Yggdrasil Drive going critical. Warning: ejection seat inoperable," the computer said over and over. Cornelia sighed and leaned back. She winced as she felt something in pain and looked down and saw that part of the cockpit had been twisted and was now stabbing into her. "Be strong, Euphy," Cornelia whispered.

Then the roof of her cockpit was ripped off. "My lady!" Guilford said, and he pulled Cornelia out, "I will  _not_ let you die."

"W-what about your opponent?" Cornelia said.

Guilford's knightmare nodded at a burning wreck plummeting towards the earth. Cornelia's eyesight wavered. "Go-good job, Guilford…" Cornelia said as everything went black.

* * *

Gino had left Kallen to resume her fight with Kanon best she could while he fought off the Pawns. The four of them were tenacious and built like bricks, which wouldn't really matter to a 9th generation knightmare if it weren't for the fact that the Pawns could fire their hadron cannons and keep their shields up at the same time, plus their Slash Harkens were annoyingly hard to see.

But he was still going to fight them. He  _had_ to keep Kallen safe, and that meant killing these things.

He took the first one out through an angled shot into the hadron cannon. The Pawn exploded and sent the other three bobbing through the air, letting Gino move in on an isolated one. He lined up another shot and blew it up too. "Two left, sweetie," Gino said.

"'Sweetie' now? What are you, a mother?" Kallen said. Gino glanced up and saw her deflect another sword strike from Kanon. She had both of his swords now, and he was actually impressed with how well she was using them, despite her general unfamiliarity with them beyond a few sparring dates they had gone on.

"Hey, I'm still trying to find a good pet name for you," Gino said. He lined up another shot, but this one barely hurt the Pawn. "I mean, the Empress has one for the Emperor."

"Yeah, and she has a 'pet name' for his sister too," Kallen said, "Gino, if your name was any longer, she'd have one for you too. Shirley just doesn't like long names."

"Regardless."

"'Kallen' is good for me," Kallen said.

"Alright, babe," Gino said, "er, Kallen."

Kallen smiled a little on the HUD. "That one sounds more like you," Kallen said. "But still. Kallen's good."

"Right," Gino said. He fired into the third one and blew it up. "Hey, Kallen. When's your birthday?"

"March 29, 2000," Kallen replied.

"Seriously!?" Gino said.

"What?"

"November 27, 2001," Gino muttered.

Kallen smirked. "That's too bad," she said, "how's it feel to be younger than your girlfriend?"

"I mean, it's not  _that_ bad," Gino said, "just… didn't think that you were 18 and me 16…"

"Chin up, you'll be 17 in a month and a half," Kallen said. "Guess I'll be a cradlerobber for a while."

"Hey!"

Gino blew up the last Pawn just as Kallen managed to knock one of the swords out of Kanon's hands.

"Why are you trying to distract me anyways, Gino?" Kallen said.

"I'm trying to calm my nerves by talking to a beautiful woman," Gino replied. "And besides, I like talking to people, and you're the only one I think can fight while I babble."

"Yeah, that's true," Kallen said, "I bet Suzaku would get pissed off about this."

"Yeah."

Gino took back a sword from Kallen and rushed in at Kanon together with her.

But then Kanon dropped out of the way of Kallen and Gino's sword slashes. "Thank you for the fight," he said, "but I have something else to end to."

He rocketed off, and before Gino could follow, a Slash Harken buried itself into the Tristan. He looked over and saw another stuck in the Guren.

"I am the knight of eleven, Gavin Crossbank!" the pilot of a giant knightmare declared, hovering down behind them, "now, Black Knights, it's time for you to-"

Gino and Kallen together stabbed Crossbank and his knightmare. It exploded. "Zero," Kallen said, "should we go after Kanon?"

"Wait to head in," Lelouch replied, "Jeremiah's on this."

* * *

Lelouch saw the Pawns coming long before they arrived. Anya took out the first half, leaving only two. "Shirley," Lelouch said, "brace for firing."

He glanced up to see her grip her console, and then he fired the Shinkiro's cannons. The other two Pawns were vaporized. Jeremiah's face appeared on the HUD. "My lord," he said, "enemy forces on the ground are aiming for our artillery."

"Understood," Lelouch said. "Are you almost here?"

"Yes, my Lord."

Lelouch dismissed Jeremiah and brought up Marybell, his geass'd half-sister leading the ground forces. "Zero," she said, her eyes slack, "what are your orders, my master?"

"Deploy all forces to stopping the artillery from being taken out, no matter the cost," Lelouch said.

"Yes, sir," Marybell said. Her call terminated.

"Lelouch!" Rolo said, his own face appearing on the HUD, "Kanon incoming!"

"Try and take him out," Lelouch said.

"Zero! Enemy shields opening," Shirley said.

Lelouch looked up at the Damocles and watched as knightmares streamed out of it. He smiled. "Condition one met," he said, "that's most of the garrison."

The enemy knightmares, a mix of normal people and Pawns, screamed down from the heights of the Damocles towards Lelouch. "Anya, fire!" Lelouch ordered.

Anya, her battalions, and the  _Ikaruka_  annihilated about half of the enemy wave. "Kallen, Gino, move in and clear out any outliers, Suzaku, Euphemia, keep moving in," Lelouch said. "Shirley, what's happening in the left flank?"

"Guilford just handed Cornelia over to Eberhardt and is resuming command," Shirley said, "the enemy's right is starting to disintegrate, according to him, without their knight."

Lelouch looked at a display on his HUD of known enemy knights of the round. Except for Kanon, Maija Teranen, and Marcus Friborg, all of them were down. "Where's Teranen and Friborg?" Lelouch said.

A knightmare shot up into the sky in front of Lelouch. "I will pin you down so that Lord Maldini can finish you off, Zero!" the knightmare – Friborg – snarled.

And then it froze as Rolo flew up to him and blasted the knightmare point-blank in the cockpit several times. "All except Maldini and Teranen dealt with, Lelouch," Rolo said.

"Alright," Lelouch said, "prepare for next phase." He looked at Shirley and said, "I'm moving in."

"Alright, Lulu," Shirley said, "be safe."

He nodded. He pressed a command on his HUD, and the Shinkiro fell back.

* * *

Jeremiah Gottwald reached Anya just in time to save her from Kanon and the Percival. The rest of Schneizel's reinforcements were making short work of Anya's battalions, and Jeremiah fired off what ordinance he could to protect them. But his main target was Anya.

One thing he hadn't thought of, however, was that Kanon might know the Siegfried's weakness. "Lord Orange," Kanon said, and he shot underneath the Siegfried and fired into its shields' weak points, "another relic of geass, and another relic of a long-dead past."

"Hmph. Lord Kanon, it's time for you to learn something," Jeremiah said.

"Oh?"

"Your technology is impressive," Jeremiah said as the Percival shredded the Siegfried's exterior, "and your dedication to your master is inspiring." Jeremiah fired all missiles, past the Percival and into the crowd of Pawns that Anya was now trying to fight off. "But there is one advantage that I have that you will  _never_ be able to approach!"

"And what's that?"

"It is nothing less," Jeremiah said, as he piloted his Siegfried mini unit out of the Siegfried and, taking advantage of the debris cloud, smashed into the Percival and clung to it, "than my absolute LOYALTY!"

He smashed open the cockpit and jumped out just as its self-destruct went off, staggering the Percival. Then Jeremiah extended the blades in his arm and dug the blade into the Percival's armor, using it to slow his slide down towards the Percival's cockpit.

The Percival shuddered and plummeted a few feet. "I can still get rid of you!" Kanon yelled, and the Percival plucked Jeremiah out of the armor and tossed him through the air. Jeremiah watched the Percival try and shoot back to the Damocles, and then saw an enemy Vincent approaching him, its gun charging up.

"Accept my life as a token of loyalty, your Majesty," Jeremiah muttered to himself, deciding to look death in the face.

And then the Vincent exploded. It tumbled out of the air to reveal, behind it, a pink knightmare. Anya caught Jeremiah right after. "We've been ordered to withdraw," Anya told him, and then she, with Jeremiah, CC, and in the distance, Tohdoh and Xingke with their flank, began falling back.

* * *

Nunnally was watching the battle from the bridge of the  _Ikaruka_. She wasn't the only one: Sayoko was by her side, Ohgi was directing the cannon fire, and Diethard was barking orders to Miss Milly and her crew as they live-reported on the fight to the UFN.

A few minutes ago, a huge crowd of knightmares had been sent from the Damocles, and Lelouch had returned to the  _Ikaruka_  long enough to load into a smaller knightmare and gone back into battle. Shirley had walked onto the bridge only seconds ago and was given back her position at head of comms.

"Zero says condition two has been cleared!" Shirley announced, looking up, "Nunnally, it's up to you."

"Yes," Nunnally said. She watched on the ship's screens as a camera zoomed in on the base of the Damocles. She watched as Kanon rushed into the Damocles, injured but still fast enough that Kallen and Gino couldn't follow. Then she watched as Euphy and Suzaku met up with Kallen and Gino, and then the four went their separate ways as Lelouch joined Suzaku.

And then the Damocles opened again and its FLEIJA-launching cannon aimed squarely at the  _Ikaruka_. "Launch!" Nunnally declared.

"Launching!" Nina said. She pressed her button, and the  _Ikaruka_ shook as an ultra-fast missile streaked across the battlefield towards the FLEIJA. "FLEIJA Disruptor activating  _now!_ "

The FLEIJA missile was shot out of the Damocles just as the Disruptor soared to right in front of the shield. It intercepted the FLEIJA and both began glowing white as Lelouch, Kallen, Gino, Suzaku, and Euphy rushed in through the gap in the shielding. Then the shield reappeared as the FLEIJA and FLEIJA Disruptor exploded into a brilliant column of blue energy.

"All forces, withdraw immediately," Ohgi said. He looked at Nunnally and said, "condition three cleared, ma'am."

Nunnally nodded and pressed her comms. She was being used instead of Ohgi since Lelouch thought no one would try and monitor her own comms. That meant that this phase of the plan would come off as more of a surprise. "Ms. Chawla!" Nunnally said, "fire!"

"Of course," Rakshata said, her voice a little grainy.

Then Mt. Fuji shuddered and, one after the other,  _Ikaruka-_ class ships began streaming out of the hole Schneizel had left in the mountain months ago, and their captains – from Tianzi with her advisors to Kaguya to a few of Lelouch's non-geass'd Britannian officers – reported in to Ohgi. "Join with the others in opening fire!" Ohgi declared, and then all of the ships, all ten of them, began opening fire on the Damocles' shields. "All units, shield the fleet!"

"Fire until engines go out!" Nunnally told Rakshata.

"Understood."

Anya joined in on the attack on the Damocles' shielding, and as it rippled, Nunnally lost sight of the attack. She frowned. Hopefully Lelouch and Euphy and Suzaku and the others would be safe.

* * *

Euphy was just behind Suzaku and just in front of Lelouch as they charged into the Damocles. "The command deck should be floor 35," Lelouch said, "Suzaku, Euphy, and I will head there. Kallen, hunt down Kanon. Gino, find a way to destroy the missiles."

"Gotcha," Gino said, and he shot off. Kallen followed after him when Kanon appeared from the side of the Damocles and started following Gino.

Suzaku, meanwhile, floated down to the FLEIJA-shooting VARIS and sunk his sword through it. "Any missiles will be chopped in two now," Suzaku said. "Let's go."

The three of them soared into the corridors of the Damocles and flew through it, firing on the numerous Pawns and the remaining garrison members. They stopped when the saw a blue-and-white knightmare standing at the entrance to the main elevator shaft.

The knightmare drew a staff from its back that transformed into an energy axe. "Teranen," Suzaku said, "the knight of five. I'll hold her off."

Suzaku and Teranen began sparring, giving Euphy and Lelouch enough room to slip by. "Do you think Suzaku will be ok?" Euphy asked Lelouch.

"I'm sure," Lelouch replied.

"Teranen was one of the best hand-to-hand fighters of the knights of the round, though," Euphy said.

"Really? Well, I'm sure he'll be fine anyways," Lelouch said. "Come on."

They soared through the elevator shaft. "Do you know where Schneizel is?" Euphy said.

"Not yet," Lelouch said, "which is why we're stopping here."

The two landed on one of the floors, floor 35. They got out of their knightmares and walked into the command deck.

It was empty.

"Just as expected," Lelouch said, "alright, Euphy, cover my back."

Euphy nodded and pulled out a gun. She didn't want to shoot, at all, but she was going to be ready just in case. Meanwhile, Lelouch was plugging a flashdrive into the command computer. The download went extremely fast, and then the cameras on the wall turned slightly to scan the whole room. "This is a modification of the virus Schneizel used in Japan," Lelouch said, "fortunately, when Suzaku reported the cameras had gone weird, Lloyd kept a copy."

Euphy nodded. She heard footsteps. "Lelouch…"

"Don't worry," he said. The monitor began flashing parts of the ship until it focused on Schneizel in what looked like a nice villa. "The top floor," Lelouch said, and he pulled out his own gun and shot the monitor. "C'mon, Euphy."

The rushed to the door and got into their knightmares just as a patrol showed up and started firing at them. Lelouch gunned them down, making Euphy feel a little sick when she saw all of the blood, but she followed after Lelouch as they began soaring up the shaft again.

Before long, they had reached the top and punched through the top hatch to find the villa. Around the villa were a set of missile silo tops that were slowly opening. Up above, the shield was shimmering. "Schneizel's in the library," Lelouch said, "c'mon."

Euphy rushed up ahead of Lelouch and blew off the doors. She glanced out at the battle outside and saw that the ships were keeping up their attacks. "Lelouch," she said, "lead the-"

Then a set of Slash Harkens shot out of the villa rooms and smashed into Lelouch, who pushed Euphy out of the way. "Get to Schneizel, shoot him if you have to!" Lelouch yelled as Pawns began dragging his knightmare out of the villa. "Don't worry! There's something else I need to do anyways!"

"Alright," Euphy said, "get back here as soon as possible!"

She went further into the villa, finding no resistance. Reaching the library, she took a deep breath and smashed the wall down, revealing Schneizel in the middle of the room.

He glanced up and pressed a button. Gefjun Disrupters appeared on either side of the hole Euphy had made and disabled the Guinevere. At least she could still escape, which she did, her gun pointed at Schneizel.

He stood up when he saw her emerge. "Euphemia," Schneizel said, "I suppose this is our first face-to-face meeting in a long, long time. Let's talk… little sister."

* * *

The Damocles shuddered. Suzaku knew it was from Gino, who was going around and blowing up all of the medium-range missile launchers. The point of the constant barrage was that Schneizel couldn't dare drop shields to fire FLEIJAs at the Black Knights. But that would only keep up for about ten minutes. And there was still the question of the long-range missiles.

In the meantime, he was fighting Teranen. "We don't need to do this, you know," Suzaku said.

Teranen said nothing, just swung her axe at him.

"You can just acknowledge the proper emperor," Suzaku said, "leave the Damocles with your life."

Teranen's speaker clicked. "I am a Finn," Teranen said, "Finns have  _sisu_. We do not give up. And I will not give up against you."

"A Finn?" Suzaku said, "then why are we fighting!? Schneizel conquered Finland!"

"My family has not lived in Finland in a long time," Teranen replied. She swung her axe at the Lancelot, almost taking out his leg.

"Then you'll be loyal to Schneizel, no matter what?" Suzaku said.

"Such is my fate," Teranen said.

"I see," Suzaku replied. "And you're the greatest in hand-to-hand, eh?"

He watched the axe fly towards him, and then felt  _live_ react. In a matter of seconds, Suzaku had rushed past her at inhuman speed and cut Teranen from the navel up to the head. "A-all hail… Schneizel," Teranen said as her knightmare exploded.

"That was pathetically easy," Suzaku commented as he flew into the elevator shaft.

"Indeed."

Suzaku was blindsided as Kanon's swords punched into the Lancelot's arms. "Kanon!?" Suzaku said. The Percival was in perfect order again.

"Sir Teranen died a few weeks ago," Kanon said, " _that_ was an AI. Teranen tried to murder his majesty over our conquest of Finland, but we decided her knightmare could still be useful."

"How are you in perfect order?" Suzaku said.

"I have two," Kanon said. "This one, and the damaged one I was piloting out there. I predict that my AI double will not be able to defeat Kallen and Gino… but no matter. All I need to do is buy time."

"Buy time?"

"Of course," Kanon said, "our shields can weather a lot of damage, you know – including FLEIJA blasts right around here."

Suzaku kicked the Percival back and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the Lancelot's arms were still working. Then he drew his remaining sword in one hand and aimed his VARIS at the Percival with the other.

* * *

Kallen was sparring with the Percival and Kanon, but he was strangely silent. His movements were also a little more sluggish, which she chalked up to the damage Jeremiah had done to it. But still… something wasn't right.

At the very least, she had to keep the Percival off of Lelouch, Gino, and Euphemia's backs. She fired her cannon at the Percival, but it dodged; it tried to get up in her face, but she switched off her wing and plummeted past its swipes. At one point, she tried to regain her footing after one such stunt, only to notice that her arm was just scraping against the forcefield. It gave her an idea.

"Hey, Maldini!" Kallen said, soaring up towards him to get in his face and launch her arm again, "this is your last chance to surrender!"

Kanon said nothing and charged right for Kallen at a blindingly-fast speed.

Right into the forcefield.

The Percival was sent spinning away from the shield, disoriented enough for Kallen to clamp onto it with her wave surger. She charged it up to max and said, "nothing personal, Kanon."

She crushed down the trigger.

And Percival boiled and exploded.

And then Kallen noticed – there was no one and no sign of anyone in the ejection seat as it fell, crumpled, through the air. "Where did Kanon go!?" she said.

"Main – shaft," Suzaku grunted on her HUD, "Kallen-"

"I'll be right there!" Kallen said, shooting past the remains of the Percival and into the Damocles itself.

* * *

Euphy had her gun pointed at Schneizel, and he put his hands to his head. "It's been a while," Euphy said, "yeah, I agree with that."

"Now, how about you put down the gun, and we talk like civilized people," Schneizel said.

"What are you playing at?" Euphy said, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing, Euphy," Schneizel said. "Would I lie to you?"

"Yes."

"Well, then," Schneizel said, "aren't you at least curious to know why I wanted you dead?" Euphy's finger wavered on the trigger. "I mean, I doubt you're going to kill me. After all, we  _are_ still siblings. And if I die, my empire will keep fighting. All you'll do is create endless war."

Euphy lowered her gun. "You're stalling," Euphy said.

"Am I?" Schneizel said, and he stood up and let his arms fall. "Well, Euphy, I can at least promise you answers."

"Tell me why you wanted me dead," Euphy said.

"To tie up loose ends," Schneizel said. "I had a narrative that I sold to get my coup together. You were upsetting that narrative. If the truth had come out, back then, to my fellow backers, about what had  _really_ happened in the massacre, then they would have turned on me."

"What do you mean?" Euphy said.

"Your gentleness and naïveté was well-known," Schneizel said. "Your sudden turn on the Japanese was an easy piece of evidence. But I had to tell them that Lelouch was an agent of the Emperor, that Zero was a creation of CC and his majesty. If they had known there was no actual tie between the massacre and his majesty, I think they wouldn't have turned on him."

"But there was VV's acceleration!" Euphy said.

But Schneizel shook his head. "It's a convenient lie, Euphy," Schneizel said, "it's more likely that it  _was_ a coincidence. VV  _was_ there, yes… but what's broadcast now is nothing more than an evil for the greater good."

"But why launch a coup?" Euphy said.

"For the same reason as father, or as Lelouch," Schneizel said. "To make a gentler world."

He walked over to a window and looked out at the energy shield rippling from the Black Knights' fire. "What would you know of a gentler world?" Euphy said.

"I will create a world without war," Schneizel said. "In a short few minutes, the missiles so cruelly sabotaged by CC and her Directorate spies will finish being refueled. They will launch and every major city outside of my empire will be destroyed. Some will rain down here, as well, killing most of Lelouch's army. We will rebuild. And I will reign from the Damocles, ensuring peace and prosperity in a grateful world."

"You- you monster!" Euphy yelled, and then she narrowed her eyes and began shooting at Schneizel until she was out of bullets. When her gun had run out, she looked up to see that Schneizel had slumped against the window… but he wasn't dead.

Instead, he slowly, laboriously stood up. "Impressive," he said, "but I shouldn't have anything more than a few broken ribs." He parted his cloak slightly to show a bulletproof vest. "I thought provoking you would be the safest option. It seems I was right."

"So you're going to launch FLEIJAs at the whole world," Euphy said, "and you think that will end war?"

"Certainly," Schneizel said, "for you see, Euphemia… the whole world will be united."

"United in what? Love of  _you_!?" Euphy said.

"No," Schneizel said. "Hate."

* * *

Suzaku and Kanon were stalemated. The VARIS had ended up being useless against Kanon's shields and had already been severed. Kanon's machine was incredible, but Suzaku  _was_ , at the end of the day, a better pilot. But the same had been true with Kallen, and that fight had also effectively been a draw.

The wall to the elevator shaft exploded and Kallen emerged. "Suzaku!" Kallen said, and she launched her arm at Kanon.

Kanon swatted the arm away, and then launched energy beams from his wing unit, that Suzaku deflected away via his Blaze Luminous. "Where's Gino?" Suzaku said.

"He's almost finished taking out the medium-range missiles. All he has left are the long-range, if he can get to them," Kallen said.

"Well, it's been a long time since we washed up on Kamine Island," Suzaku said as he deflected a blow from Kanon.

"So it has."

"And we haven't had a proper discussion about this yet, Kallen."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm glad you stuck with the Black Knights," Suzaku said, "I guess you saw the light before I did."

"Oh, come off it, Suzaku," Kallen said, "your loyalties haven't changed since then. You've just needed to figure out where your heart really lay."

"Yeah, well," Suzaku said as Kallen fired a blast of energy at Kanon, "I needed to realize too, that sometimes, the ends  _do_ justify the means."

"And what's that 'sometimes'?"

"Protecting those I love."

Kallen smiled on Suzaku's HUD. "Glad to hear it," she said, "you know, you're a lot more tolerable when you're not so preachy."

"Thanks, Kallen," Suzaku said. "Alright, do you have a plan for dealing with Kanon?"

"I'm a fighter, not a tactician," Kallen replied.

Suzaku nodded. "Me too," he said. "But I also know that he's just buying time."

Kanon charged back down at them. "Then how about this," Kallen said, "if it's just buying time, then that's something Schneizel is doing, right? Then we don't even  _need_  to beat him… just make sure Lelouch and Euphemia get through."

"Yeah, but he's fast enough to slip past us whenever he wants," Suzaku said. "I wish we brought Rolo…"

"Either way, we're still better pilots than Kanon," Kallen said.

She blasted her wave surger at Kanon, but the Percival practically teleported out of the way. "Why wouldn't Lloyd and Cécile invent something like that, though?" Suzaku said.

"Something about an AI," Kallen replied. She fired her arm again at Kanon, but then Kanon severed it with his knightsword. "Dammit!"

"It's ok, Kallen!" Suzaku said, "we can still do this."

Then the Percival nailed the Lancelot, smashing him through several rooms.  _Warning_ , his HUD read,  _wing unit damaged_. "Suzaku!" Kallen yelled, and she was at the Percival in seconds, actually nicking the Percival with the Guren's knee. Then she fired energy beams from the wing unit, but the Percival blocked with a crimson Blaze Luminous and then fired the shots back at her. Kallen only barely dodged them.

But it bought enough time for Suzaku to swing his sword at the Percival, severing one of its feet. The Percival shuddered and fell over, and then shot back into the shaft.

"After him!" Suzaku said, rebooting the wing unit and then jumping after Kanon.

* * *

"Hate?" Euphy said disbelievingly.

"Yes, Euphy. Hate," Schneizel said. "The whole world will hate me with every fiber of their being."

He walked over to a bookcase and pulled down a book Euphy knew well – a history of the American Rebellion. "Our history," Schneizel said, "is that of war. Mankind has known peace for only a scant few years of our 'civilized' history. Even Lelouch's grand experiment with the United Federation of Nations will inevitably fall apart without a villain for it to oppose."

"Then… then you're trying  _deliberately_ to make yourself the bad guy?" Euphy said.

Schneizel nodded. "When you nearly died, and when I found out what father was planning, I found myself drawn to the  _ideals_ of father or Lelouch, but not their methods," Schneizel said. "When I learned about geass, I went to the history books. All of a sudden, event after event in world history became clear. Geass was nothing more than a continuous cycle of those given power seeking a better world, and then watching as it crumbled."

"Lelouch will change things," Euphy said.

"That's what they all said," Schneizel replied. He put the book down and said, "geass users tried to make an ideal world in the time of the American Rebellion and the French Revolution. By means of geass, Franklin defected, Napoléon conquered Nelson, and the French conquered Napoléon himself. It is an endless cycle of violence, because as soon as the unifying enemy was gone – the Americans, the Monarchists, the Bonapartists", and here Schneizel knocked book after book out of his bookcase "– coalitions fell apart and nations burned."

"Then… then you want to make a world where there will always be an enemy," Euphy said. "You."

"Exactly. And so, I will destroy the world's cities. I will murder the first 'good' Britannian emperor in centuries. I will annihilate the UFN, and I will render all the peoples of the world my slaves laboring under the sword of Damocles. Gradually, society and technology and the economy will recover, but people will still be focused on one thing: their hatred of me. The sword of Damocles will hang over their heads, and with the sword pointed down, they will have no time to turn their swords to each other," Schneizel said.

He turned his back on Euphy and walked over to the window. "And thus, my plans, Euphy. I wasn't entirely truthful earlier. You weren't just a loose end to me. You were also a weapon."

"What do you mean?"

"My assassins were dressed as Black Knights. They were to barge in and kill you. Suzaku would be warned right before by me or Kanon. He would arrive to find them leaving, and you dead. In his anger and grief, he would fly to China and kill Zero, or die trying."

A chill at this thought went down Euphy's spine. "And…and the FLEIJA in Tokyo?" she whispered.

"A continuation. My greatest threats were Lelouch and father. Father would've been easy enough to deal with – vaporized with a FLEIJA. But Lelouch – well, I was going to kill Nunnally, using Suzaku's own hand. Unfortunately, he overpowered geass, and he actually managed to escape FLEIJA. Lelouch's sanity stood."

"And you think your plan now will work?" Euphy said.

"Why not?" Schneizel said, "after all. I only have one more minute, and I win."

* * *

The remainder of the Damocles' Pawn garrison had joined the battle alongside Kanon. Suzaku was leaving Kallen to deal with the Pawns while he dealt with Kanon. It still wasn't easy, though – Kanon's blistering speed meant that he had only gotten one more hit in.

"It seems we are in the final stretch," Kanon said, "and the whole world shall weep and gnash their teeth."

"What are you talking about!?" Kallen said.

"It is time to initiate Armageddon," Kanon said, "I cannot delay any more." He shot forward and, with a fluid strike, chopped the Guren in half at the waist and then smashed the Lancelot into the wall.

"Kallen!" Suzaku said.

"I'm ok!" Kallen said, "I'll get him yet, don't worry."

Then he began soaring up through the shaft. "Thank you for the fight, Kallen Kozuki and Suzaku Kururugi." The Percival was looking down at them as it floated up, and it began firing energy cannons towards Suzaku and Kallen, forcing them to shield. "It is a holy day, fitting for the Holy Britannian Empire."

"Hey, Kanon! You ever heard this verse!?"

Kanon looked up just as the Tristan charged down and, in a lightning-fast blow, slashed his swords all the way down the Percival. "W-what?" Kanon said.

The Tristan stopped underneath the Percival as its cannons shut off. "Him who lives by the sword, dies by the sword," Gino said.

The Percival turned to face Gino. "Impressive," Kanon said, "though my shields still hold."

Suzaku saw what he needed to do. Kallen just nodded to him in the HUD.

"I'm sick and tired of you and your superior knightmare," Gino said, pulling out his sword. "I know I can't beat you, but all I need to do is buy time."

"My lord has things handled," Kanon replied. "He shall defeat Zero."

"Not that," Gino replied, "all I need to do is buy time for  _her!"_

Then Suzaku threw the Guren at the Percival with all his might. Kallen latched onto the Percival and the Guren began beeping. She slid her hatch open and, without a second thought, jumped from her knightmare.

Gino dropped beneath the Guren and grabbed her, then shielded her as the Guren exploded. The Percival sputtered and sparked, and its wing unit failed. It began plummeting and, as it fell, it grabbed onto the Tristan, yanking them both down. "Suzaku!" Gino said, "go get Lelouch and Euphemia! I've got this!"

Suzaku watched as Kanon ejected, and then his seat was roughly snagged by the Tristan, and then Suzaku shot up through the few remaining Pawns towards the Damocles' pinnacle.

And then his computer started whining. "Wing unit failing," it said, "please standby…"

* * *

"So you're happy with being the world's villain?" Euphy said.

"I'm happy knowing I made a happier world," Schneizel said. "In 58 seconds, my missiles will be ready to launch. But before then, Euphy..." He reached out his hand and said, "join me. Return to earth. Lead the survivors. Tell them of my evils – of my attempts to murder my own family. Tell them how I killed Lelouch out of jealously. Tell them what I  _am._ Make the world hate me."

Euphy looked at his outstretched hand, his serene look and knowing smile… and then she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "No."

"No?"

"No. Schneizel, I will  _never_ do that."

"Work with me?"

"Stir up hatred." Euphy looked down and away from him, stamped her foot, and said, "Schneizel, all you are is a selfish man who thinks the entire world thinks like him. I believe that people are innately good, and that all you'll do when you make the whole world hate  _you_  is hate each other! They will see the sword over their heads, and so they'll think the only tool they  _have_ is a sword! You'll remove the right of people to decide, of their own free will, to be good, and you'll leave humanity as nothing more than a whole lot of miserable primates!"

"I always knew you were a naïve fool," Schneizel replied. "Oh well. Perhaps something  _can_  be salvaged in this."

And Euphy heard a click. She looked up and gasped when she saw that he had a gun drawn on her. But then she took another deep breath and said, "I'm going to live, and we're going to defeat you. The Damocles will be destroyed, you're going to surrender, and the world will choose to be a gentler place. I  _know_ I'm naïve, but that doesn't mean I can't learn, and it doesn't mean that I'm wrong that people can and  _are_ good deep down!"

"Hmph. Your blathering has bought me enough time, at least," Schneizel said. He raised his gun and said, "but first, the loose end."

He shot, blasting off her left glasses rim and only barely avoiding her ear, and Euphy winced as she felt a streak of blood start oozing down her cheek from where the shattered plastic cut her face. "I want you to be more identifiable," Schneizel said.

"Yeah," Euphy said, and she put a hand up to her left cheek, then over her left eye. "I'm sure you do."

She shuddered as he fired again and a bullet punched through her side. It was just a flesh wound, she hoped – at the very least, she knew she still had a few minutes. "One more shot, Euphy," Schneizel said calmly and callously, "any last words?"

And then Euphy drew her hand away from her eye and watched in satisfaction as he recoiled in shock. "Yes," Euphy said, "I, Euphemia li Britannia, command you –  _sleep_!"

"N-no!" Schneizel said as he tried to point his gun at her eye, but he was too late. Geass burnt into his eye, and he collapsed onto the ground.

Euphy's eye stopped stinging as her geass disappeared from it, and then, holding her side, she slowly walked over to the Guinevere and boarded it. The wall behind her shuddered and the Gefjun disrupters failed. "It's begun," Euphy whispered, and she grabbed Schneizel and blasted a hole through the villa. She lifted off and began to rocket up through the villa.

Lelouch's knightmare appeared beside her. "Euphy," Lelouch said, "you have Schneizel? Good."

"The FLEIJAs?" Euphy said.

"30-second timer on all of them," Lelouch said, "activated starting  _now_."

Up above, the shields shimmered and disappeared while the Black Knights' cannons finished their battering of shields. Lelouch shot into the sky, followed by Euphy, who'd done her best to stop her bleeding, and then by Gino holding Kanon and Kallen. "Where's Suzaku?" Euphy said.

"I-I'm down here, my lady," Suzaku said. Euphy looked down into the Damocles and saw that Suzaku was flying much slower. "My wing unit got damaged. Listen, I love you – and I swear we'll meet-"

"That's right, we will," Euphy replied. She handed Schneizel to Lelouch and then dove the Guinevere back into the Damocles, ignoring the immense pain from her side.

"Euphy, no!" Suzaku said, "the FLEIJAs-"

"Euphy, I can't reset them!" Lelouch said, "you'll die-"

"No!" Euphy said. "Suzaku will live, and I'll live with him! God already saved my life once, and He'll save it again!"

She shot her last Slash Harken down into the Lancelot and then drew it to her. Then she looked at her computer. "Disable all safety and all AI!" Euphy said.

"Acknowledged," the computer replied.

"No, Euphy!" Suzaku said, appearing on the HUD, "you look hurt! This might-"

"I'm not losing you!" Euphy replied. She put the Guinevere on full throttle and shot up, out of the Damocles, and didn't look back as she heard the first explosion go off. "Never! I don't want to lose you ever!"

She shot out, past the shields, past the missiles that Schneizel had been trying to launch finally launching, and noticed the edges of her vision were starting to go black and she felt like a million bricks were weighing on her and she was sure she could see her mother and Clovis but at least she saved Suzaku-

She was tossed through the air like a ragdoll as the first FLEIJA went off inside of the Damocles. The last thing she was cognizant of was the Lancelot cradling the Guinevere, illuminated by FLEIJAs from top to bottom of the Damocles, crowned by Schneizel's long-range missiles detonating themselves…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you may be wondering - why give Euphy a geass? Well, it was also inspired by one of those Japan-only video games. Since I'd planned for her to get geass by the end I had to make her doctors code users since I couldn't see CC, VV, or Charles making a contract with her.
> 
> Also, quite a few liberties were taken with the Damocles' layout for the conclusion. Originally, Schneizel was going to be in the garden like Nunnally was, but I thought the library was a more fitting area for a final confrontation between Euphy and Schneizel. Stay tuned for the resolution and epilogue tomorrow!


	15. Chapter 15

Euphy woke up in a hospital bed. There were two soft beepings in the room she was in. She glanced over and saw Cornelia in a bed, a book propped open in her hands, her face stern. She glanced over at Euphy and she smiled a little. "Welcome back to the living, Euphy," Cornelia said, "what happened?"

"Blood loss, I think," Euphy said. "Schneizel shot me in the side."

Cornelia patted her stomach. "A bit of my knightmare," Cornelia said, "Guilford saved me, though."

"What happened to the Damocles?" Euphy said.

"Destroyed, along with all of the FLEIJAs," Cornelia replied. "Lelouch wanted to wait to deal with Schneizel until you woke up."

"Why me?"

"He thinks he owes it to you."

The door opened and Eberhardt poked his head in. "We had to use Jeremiah to wake Schneizel up," Eberhardt commented, "I take it-"

"I think I can put people to sleep," Euphy said, touching her eye. "I'm not sure, though. Do you think-"

"It was a deep sleep. I'd suggest experimenting a little with Jeremiah on hand," Eberhardt said.

"What happened?" Cornelia said, putting her book down.

Eberhardt walked into the hospital room and picked up the clipboard at the end of Euphy's bed. "We made a contract," he said, "I mentioned it a little, back when I talked to Tohdoh before Zero arrived, but I'm a code user."

Cornelia breathed in sharply and looked from Eberhardt to Euphy. "Euphy, what did you promise?" Cornelia said.

"To rebuild George Washington's dream," Euphy said, "right?"

Eberhardt smiled and nodded. "I hope you don't mind, princess, but I have no intention of letting you have my code."

Euphy shook her head. "I don't want it," she said.

"You're a wise woman," Eberhardt replied.

There was a knock on the door. Euphy smiled when she saw Suzaku glance in the door's window. She beckoned to him, and he opened the door. She smiled more when she saw him holding a bundle of flowers – anemones, cherry blossoms, forget-me-nots, irises, white and pink roses, zinnias, and a white flower she didn't recognize. "That's quite a lot of flowers," Euphy said.

"Ah, well, it was Shirley's idea," Suzaku said, laughing awkwardly. Eberhardt gave him a vase to put the flowers in and left the room. "Um, may I?" he said, pulling a cherry blossom out of the vase.

Euphy nodded and tilted her head down as Suzaku threaded the blossom over her ear. While he was doing this, she glanced at Cornelia, who smiled a little and pressed a button on her bed. A curtain drew around her.

Euphy looked up when Suzaku was done. "You saved me," Suzaku said, "you saved all of us."

"Yeah," Euphy said.

"Why did you go back for me?" Suzaku said.

"I wasn't going to leave you to die in the FLEIJAs, silly," Euphy said. Suzaku sat down on the edge of her bed, and he leaned in so she could cup his cheek with her hand. "We're in this together. I'm not going to expect you to protect me, if I'm not going to protect you."

Suzaku smiled. "It's my duty to protect you as your knight, my lady," he said.

Euphy's eyes trailed from his eyes down to her brooch of knighthood pinned on his clothes. She smiled at seeing this. "What kind of wife would I be if I didn't share my husband's burdens?" she said. She put her left hand on Suzaku's shoulder and saw the amethyst on her engagement ring glitter in the harsh electric light. "Speaking of… I want to apologize."

"For what?" Suzaku said, blinking. She willed geass to appear in her eye. He blinked, but then he reached out and took her hand and squeezed it. "You don't need to apologize for geass, Euphy. I think I can guess why you took it."

"I was afraid you'd be mad," Euphy admitted, looking away, "I know how much you hated Lelouch for it-"

But then Suzaku put his other hand on Euphy's cheek and titled her head so she looked him in the eyes again. "Euphy, I've forgiven him. You know that. And I trust you. You know that too."

"Aren't you at least a little disappointed?" Euphy said.

Suzaku smiled a little sadly. "I'm disappointed with geass, but that disappointment is something I can get over. Geass almost damned the world – but it also saved it. It's just like Lancelot. Its existence was never the problem," he said. "Just how it's used."

Euphy smiled and leaned up so she could kiss him. Once she broke away, she said, "we said we'd get married after the war. How does December sound?"

"So soon?" Suzaku said.

"We're both 18," Euphy replied, "as long as it's our own decisions, I won't feel weird."

"Why December?" Suzaku said.

"Lelouch's birthday is December 5. I wanna be there for that. Then, if we get married on the 8th, we can have a two-week honeymoon and be back in time for Christmas," Euphy said.

"Spend our first Christmas as a family with the royals?" Suzaku said.

"Let's invite Kaguya too. Make it the whole family," Euphy said. "Sound good?"

Suzaku held Euphy's hand up to his lips and kissed it. "Anything for you, my lady."

* * *

Schneizel looked up when Lelouch marched into the brig. He was only holding VIPs on board the  _Ikaruka_ – Schneizel himself, Kanon, Dorothy Ernst, and Monica Krushevsky. "So, the Emperor has arrived," Schneizel said, sounding pathetic and just  _tired_. "What do you want?"

"Nothing with you yet," Lelouch replied. He turned his back on Schneizel and looked at Kanon. "Kanon Maldini. Where did you find that knightmare? The Percival?"

"'Find'? It was the first 10th generation knightmare," Kanon replied, looking down at his nails. He glanced up at Lelouch and said, "development began with Dr. Asplund. Ask him for more details – and the story behind the names. As for my skill, well," he smiled and said, "the primary job of a knight is to protect his or her lord."

Lelouch nodded. Ernst said nothing to him, so he looked at Monica. "Sir Bismarck died in combat," Lelouch said, "what do you plan to do now, Krushevsky?"

"It depends," Monica said. "Do you believe that justice is given equally?"

"The United States of Britannia holds that as a founding belief," Lelouch said. "Suzaku told me you stepped aside. Your loyalty to Emperor Charles was admirable, as wicked a man as he was."

Monica nodded. "I can't bring him back from the dead by seeking revenge," Monica said, "and my ideals align with yours." She knelt and said, "please forgive my treason, your majesty."

Lelouch smiled. "I will ask our first president to pardon you," he said, and he pressed a button on her brig door, opening it. She gasped. "And to show my faith in your convictions, you may wander free. I'll warn you, however – Schneizel's forces wiped out most of the loyalists. But Britannia is still your home. Come when you wish."

Monica nodded, got up, and then left the brig. "How dangerously naïve, Lelouch," Schneizel commented.

"You don't think my security is more than adequate?" Lelouch said. Then he smiled and said, "and who knows, Schneizel. Perhaps Euphy and Nunnally are rubbing off on me."

He left the brig and watched Monica start talking to Ohgi and Viletta. Then Lelouch turned his back on them and headed towards the medical wing of the  _Ikaruka_.

He entered Euphy and Cornelia's room to find that Euphy had a new vase full of flowers he didn't recognize (beyond the cherry blossoms and roses), Euphy snoozing with a cherry blossom tucked over her ear, and Cornelia reading a book. She glanced up at Lelouch. "We're almost ready to go," Cornelia said, "how goes the war?"

"Schneizel's empire is crumbling without him," Lelouch replied. "Without him at the helm, his generals have no confidence."

Cornelia nodded. "It seems like Euphy and Kururugi have set a wedding date," Cornelia said, "have you?"

"We're not getting married until we're twenty," Lelouch replied. He walked over to the window and looked out at Mt. Fuji. Fireworks were being fired off around it, and specks he knew were Japanese, UFN, and Britannian flags were flapping proudly in the wind. "Thank you, Cornelia. Without you and Euphy, none of this would be possible."

"Without me?" Cornelia said, "what do you mean?"

"What you found with the Geass Directorate meant the Black Knights could still trust in me," Lelouch said. "You saved my life."

"And your plan saved the world," Cornelia said.

Lelouch nodded, then glanced at Euphy. "And yet, Euphy was the one who really set everything in motion," he said, "I don't know how she found it in me to forgive me."

"People who feel like they need a lot of forgiveness are quick to forgive," Cornelia said, "and they've reciprocated."

Lelouch nodded. "Come to the command room when you're ready," he said, "and we'll start."

Cornelia nodded.

Lelouch then went to the  _Ikaruka_ 's cafeteria. It was quite full, and most ignored the Britannian emperor walking through the ranks of men and women who had full plates and beer flowing. But towards the back, at a private table, were Kallen and Gino, both of whom were in casual clothes and laughing together. "Hey, your majesty," Gino said, looking up when Lelouch reached them.

"Lelouch," Kallen merely said, nodding to him.

"Kallen, Gino," Lelouch said, nodding back to them, "it's good to see you both unharmed."

"Well, thank Gino for that," Kallen said, "if it hadn't been for him, I would've plummeted to death or been fried by a FLEIJA."

"Hey, not fair!" Gino said, pointing his fork at her, "if it hadn't been for  _you_ , I would've been smashed by Kanon's super-robot after I pissed him off by interrupting his monologue."

"Gino," Lelouch said, "I was thinking… as a knight of the round, you'll still report to me and not Zero."

"Yeah," Gino said, looking down, "I mean, I guess this is the last time we'll see each other for a while, Kallen-"

"And I was thinking," Lelouch said, holding up his hand so Kallen couldn't interrupt, "of assigning a permanent military attaché to UFN headquarters in Tokyo. What do you say, knight of one?"

Gino stood and saluted. "Yes, my lord!" he said.

The rest of the cafeteria looked over at him and Lelouch. Lelouch turned around and said, "and thank you to all of you and Zero. You have Britannia's eternal gratitude." He bowed to them, Japanese-style, and then turned to Gino. "Sir Gino, what do you think. Should these brave men and women get access to the finest palace wines?"

"The ones aged for the last two hundred years?" Gino said.

"Those ones," Lelouch said.

"Hell yeah!" Gino said, pumping his fist.

The cafeteria crowd shouted their joy and turned back to their food. "Good thing I already brought a lot of it over for the 'wedding'," Lelouch said. He contacted Jeremiah and asked him to move some over, and then turned his attention back to Kallen and Gino. "So what will you two do now?"

"Finish school," Kallen said. "You and Suzaku can run off and be married, but I want to finish my education."

Lelouch smiled. "Would you mind watching over Rolo and Nunnally and Shirley, then?" Lelouch said, "unfortunately, I won't be able to."

"Are they all planning on attending in Tokyo?" Kallen said, blinking.

"This is more their home now than Britannia," Lelouch replied. Then he looked at Gino and said, "you're enrolling too. I need someone I can trust watching them. You know, with Jeremiah and Sayoko and Anya."

"Of course, your Majesty," Gino replied, bowing to him.

Kallen smiled at Lelouch. "Thanks, Lelouch," she said, "I'll make sure they're safe."

Lelouch left Kallen and Gino talking about their future to go visit his office. Only CC was in it, and she looked up when she saw Lelouch. "So," she said, "almost ready for the surrender?"

"Almost," Lelouch replied.

"Good," CC said. "This is all almost over."

"It's about time," Lelouch said.

"So then," CC said, "have you accomplished what you set out to do?"

"I found out who my mother really was, which meant revenge was moot," Lelouch said.

"Sorry for not telling you."

"Don't worry about it," Lelouch replied, "you can't change it."

CC nodded. "And the better world for Nunnally?" she said.

"I think she'll be happy with this one," he said, "but I mean to go talk to her before the ceremony." Lelouch looked directly at CC and said, "so what are you going to do now, CC?"

CC lay back on her couch. "Well, I plan to stick around and haunt you," CC said, "probably confuse your children over who the weird advisor who doesn't age and constantly eats pizza is. Keep running the Directorate. You know, the little things."

Lelouch smiled. "CC, your family will always be mine," he said, "I might not stick around forever – if I somehow got Charles' code, then I'll find a way to get rid of it before I die – but at least you'll always have a home. Always have people who love you."

"People who love a witch?" CC said, grabbing Cheese-kun and squeezing it.

"No one ever said that a witch can't have a family," Lelouch replied.

"Thank you, Lelouch."

"Of course."

He left CC to go visit Nunnally's quarters. He entered to find Rolo and Nunnally. "Oh, hi, Lelouch," Nunnally said, looking up at Lelouch, "I was just teaching Rolo how to fold paper cranes."

Sure enough, Rolo was working on a paper crane. He had an intense look of concentration, but his cranes were much worse-looking than Nunnally's. "You said I need to fold a thousand of these, right?" Rolo said.

Nunnally nodded. "See, like this is  _probably_ crane number 1000," Nunnally said, holding up her own, "just in time for my wish to come true."

"What's your wish?" Rolo said.

"A gentle world, right, Nunnally?" Lelouch said.

Nunnally nodded. "Yeah," she said. She looked at the window and said, "it makes me so happy." She looked at Rolo and said, "what are you going to wish for, Rolo?"

Rolo looked at her and then looked at Lelouch. "I don't know," Rolo said, "I think I have everything I want now. I have my big brother  _and_ two sisters."

"Don't forget Cornelia," Nunnally said.

"I guess you've been adopted into the royal family, Rolo," Lelouch said.

"Hmm…" Rolo said, "then, maybe I wish… I wish that Lelouch would love me like he loves Nunnally and Euphy."

Lelouch blinked. "Right, well," he said, unsure of how to answer, "sounds… sounds good, Rolo."

Rolo nodded at him. Nunnally giggled. Lelouch quickly bowed out. He had two places left to visit, or rather, two people left to find anyways: Shirley and Suzaku. He found the former in her quarters. She was trying on a dress. "What're you up to, Shirley?" Lelouch said with bemusement as he leaned against the doorway.

"Well, you know," Shirley said, "there's gonna be a broadcast, right?"

"You'll probably by the only one in formal clothes in it," Lelouch said.

She frowned and looked at her Black Knights uniform. "I'm gonna wear that, then," she said, "I just wanted to make sure you didn't have to be the only one in fancy clothes."

"Well, in that case," Lelouch said, "wear what you like."

She smiled and went back to her dresses. "Alright, Lulu," she said. She pulled her current dress off and hung it up then looked at her other dresses. "Which do you think is best?"

"You look good no matter what," Lelouch said, stepping into the room so no one else would see Shirley in her underwear.

Shirley shot a look at him that was somewhere between exasperation and disbelief. "Lulu, no offense, but I don't think you know much about fashion," she said. She looked over his white imperial outfit then turned and looked at her three dresses. "Let's see… I had to get rid of that ugly dress for the trap, so I've got orange, green, and…" she pulled out a white gown and said, "and this."

"You like that one best?" Lelouch said.

"Yeah," Shirley said cheerfully.

Lelouch smiled and said, "then that's the one, your Majesty."

Shirley curtsied. "Help me with this, will you?" she said. Lelouch nodded.

Lelouch spent the next few minutes helping Shirley prepare as she hummed quietly, a slight smile on her lips. It was a quiet moment, of the sort that in the lead up to the Damocles they had barely had: Lelouch had been far too busy with reforms or the war or being Zero to spend time with her. Their last date was the trip to China before Lelouch met with the Black Knights. Even their discussion of a time for marriage had only come the day they announced she was to be empress.

Once Shirley started on her makeup, she said, "you can go now, Lulu. I'll see you in a bit."

"Yeah," Lelouch said. "And after this is over, let's go out and eat."

She gave him an incredulous look. "The war ends and you just want to go to a restaurant like it was after a swim meet?" Shirley said.

"Hey, I remember when you said you wanted it to be just Lelouch and just Shirley," Lelouch said.

She put her finger to her mouth as if she were thinking. "…yeah," she finally said, "that's right."

"It's settled, then," Lelouch said, "it'll be nice."

"Yeah."

"Alright."

"Ok."

"See you later."

"Yeah."

Lelouch left Shirley to finish getting ready and massaged his temples. "That's where you've been."

Lelouch glanced up to see Suzaku, who was watching Lelouch with bemusement. "Oh, Suzaku," Lelouch said, and he gestured to him. The two began walking down the corridor. "You know, sometimes I envy you and Euphy."

"Why?"

"Shirley and I are practically engaged-"

"'Practically'? You already introduced her-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, it's just – I don't have the world's best way with women," Lelouch said.

Suzaku nodded. They stepped into an elevator, and he said, "well you know, Lelouch, I really doubt I'd be getting married in two months if Euphy hadn't literally fallen out of the sky into my arms."

"Did you ever find out why she did that?" Lelouch said.

"She's never given me a good answer," Suzaku replied.

The elevator reached the top deck of the  _Ikaruga_ , and together the two stepped outside to observe the battlefield. The other nine  _Ikaruga_ -class airships were all grounded, refueling. Some debris from the Damocles was still lingering in the sky, and the battlefield was littered with knightmare frames. Large white tent cities showed where Schneizel's forces were currently being guarded. The occasional medical hospital flew by, but most of the casualties were already being treated in the airships or nearby hospitals.

"It's a weird feeling," Suzaku said. Lelouch glanced at him and saw that Suzaku was staring off towards the biggest mound of knightmares – right underneath where the Damocles had been.

"What is?"

"It… it's over," Suzaku said. "We can be normal again."

"'Normal'?" Lelouch said, "in what world is having an emperor for your brother-in-law normal?"

Suzaku smiled and said, "you know, when we met I didn't like you. I thought you were a jerk. Nunnally was ok, though."

"Didn't know you were meeting your future family, eh?" Lelouch said.

Suzaku laughed. "Yeah," he said, "didn't know that you guys would change my life so much. And now? Now… well, I guess we've all paid, haven't we? Worked and sweated and bled to try and overcome what we did – the massacres and the murders and betraying each other."

"Yeah," Lelouch said. They watched the white tents flap in the wind for a few minutes, and then Lelouch said, "Suzaku, knowing what you know now… would you have joined me after I saved you from Jeremiah?"

"No," Suzaku said, "because then I wouldn't meet Euphy and be her first friend in Japan. I don't know if, without me, she would've ever come out from behind Cornelia's shadow."

Lelouch nodded. "I suppose that's true," Lelouch said.

"And you, Lelouch," Suzaku said, "if you knew what you know now… would you have killed Clovis?"

Lelouch looked out at the tents and thought back to that meeting. "I don't know," he finally said. "It's twisted, but if I hadn't killed him, you wouldn't've met the love of your life. And he  _was_ committing genocide, though it seems everyone's forgotten that the li Britannia sisters did too in the wake of FLEIJA…"

"You know, Lelouch," Suzaku said, putting his hand on Lelouch's shoulder, "I think that Euphy and I would've found each other anyways. Besides, you could set us up if you knew, right?"

"Right," Lelouch said. "In that case… I probably would spare Clovis. And I wouldn't wipe Shirley's memories the first time, and… well, if I knew what geass would do, I would never have gone to that meeting with Euphy alone."

"Well, the important thing is everything worked out," Suzaku said. "It's not perfect, but…"

"It's what we've got," Lelouch said.

His comms chimed. "Your majesty, Princesses Cornelia and Euphemia are good to go, at least briefly," Dr. Westinghouse said, "whenever you're ready."

"Thank you, Dr. Westinghouse," Lelouch said. He terminated the call and said, "joining us, Suzaku?"

Suzaku nodded, but then grabbed Lelouch's shoulder before he could step away. "Lelouch," he said, "there's something I want you to do for me after the ceremony."

Lelouch turned and looked at him. "And what's that?" Lelouch said.

"I… I want you to change my geass," Suzaku said.

Lelouch blinked. "What do you mean?" Lelouch said.

"As it is now, if something happened, I might save myself at the expense of my family," Suzaku said. "I want you to change that."

Lelouch nodded. "Alright," he said.

The singing of the surrender ceremony went well. Schneizel signed the unconditional surrender without geass and considering that all of his fronts were collapsing without him, it was his only real option. "I'm going to hand you over to the Japanese now," Lelouch said, "you can face justice for murdering their citizens."

"Don't worry," Ohgi told him as Kallen took Schneizel away at gunpoint, "it'll be a fair trial, 'your Majesty'."

Then Lelouch, Euphy, Suzaku, and Jeremiah stepped into conference room one. Lelouch locked the door. Jeremiah cleared Suzaku's geass, and then Lelouch turned around to take off his contacts.

Then he turned back around. "I want you to command me like Suzaku," Euphy said.

"Euphy," Suzaku said, but Euphy shook her head.

She took his hand and said, "don't forget what we agreed on, Suzaku."

He nodded.

They both knelt before Lelouch. "Now then," Lelouch said, "as your emperor and commanding officer and more importantly, as your brother and your friend, I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command both of you – to live, and make sure your families live too!"

The geass burnt into their eyes, and then the red fringe dissipated. "Thank you, Lelouch," Suzaku said.

"No problem," Lelouch said as he put his contacts back on. "With luck, that will only activate in times of dire need. And if not, well… Jeremiah's always ready to clear it."

He left to go get ready for his date with Shirley. "Thanks for everything, Lelouch!" Euphy called as he went.

"No," Lelouch called back, "thank  _you_ , Euphy. It's only possible because of you."

* * *

Snow was falling in the Japan SAZ Memorial Garden in the shadow of Mt. Fuji. Princess Euphemia was walking through the garden alone. Even Suzaku wasn't with her. This was something she wanted to see alone.

It was a nice place, recently dedicated by Kaguya. Cool black marble had the name and the birthdates of every single victim. She even saw that someone had added Darlton to the list. She wondered if Lelouch or Cornelia had a hand in that.

She walked down the corridor of names and the plots where, once the winter was over, plants would be. She reached a large statue – that of Ishihara, who had trusted her only to die in the zone at the hands of her soldiers.

"Princess Euphemia?"

Euphy glanced up to see a coat-cloaked figure walk up from the snow. The figure took off their hood to reveal Nina. "Nina," Euphy said, "why are you here?"

"I… I came to see the names," Nina said. She walked up to Euphy and said, "I… I feel so bad about what happened. If I hadn't hated the Japanese because I misunderstood what you wanted, then maybe – maybe…" her voice broke and she whispered, "maybe FLEIJA…"

"Nina, you can't change the past. You can only change the future," Euphy said. "Believe me. That's true of all of us."

Nina nodded. "I know," she said, "it's just-"

"The fact that you care is more important than what you did," Euphy said. "Just… help us keep the peace. That can be your redemption."

Nina nodded. "Oh, congratulations, my lady," Nina said, "um… see you tomorrow. At- at your wedding."

Euphy nodded and watched her leave the monument.

Another figure walked up out of the snow, and gasped when she saw her. "Euphemia- _san_?" The figure took off her hood to reveal a young-looking Japanese woman.

"Ah, hello," Euphy said in Japanese. "Do I know you?"

The woman nodded. "You took me to meet my husband after the FLEIJA, and you saved my life by stopping Schneizel," the woman said, "I – I was one of the fighters on the ground."

Euphy didn't know about the fighters on the ground, but she did remember the young mother. "It's nice to see you again," Euphy said cheerfully. "Has everything been good?"

"Oh, yes," the woman said, "my husband has his eyesight back, and I've gotten all of my backpay from the Black Knights." She gestured towards the path forward and said, "please, come with me. There's something I want you to see."

"Alright," Euphy said, and she followed the young woman down the path. "Um, did you lose someone in the massacre?"

"I lost my mother," the young woman said. "I hated you for a long time. But I know the truth now. That's what's really important."

"Thank you," Euphy said.

"Of course," the woman said, switching to her perfect English. "I'm Yumiko, by the way. Yumiko Kurazawa."

"Where did you learn to speak English so well, Miss Yumiko?" Euphy said.

"I was once a maid for a noble family in Britannia," Yumiko said. "I think that their son had a crush on me. His father didn't much like that and beat me and threw me out. I wound up in Japan, but I fell in love, and, well… well, now we have another one on the way…"

"Congratulations!" Euphy then added, "which noble family was it?"

"Ah, the Weinbergs," Yumiko said.

Euphy blinked and smiled. "I'll be sure to pass on your survival to Sir Gino," Euphy said, "Kallen told me he was very worried you'd died in the FLEIJA."

"Tell him I'm glad he still remembers me," Yumiko said, laughing.

They stopped at a tarp over a large statue. "What's this?" Euphy said.

"It's the newest statue," Yumiko said. "Lady Kaguya wanted us to add it. I've been hired as groundskeeper here, you see, and she told me to keep it covered until we could properly unveil it. But I think she'd let you be an exception…"

Before Euphy could protest, Yumiko undid a knot of the tarp and pulled it down. Then Euphy's breath hitched and tears began stinging her eyes as she looked up at the statue.

It was her, in her dress from the day of the massacre, and Lelouch, in his Zero outfit. Their hands were clasped in a handshake. At the base of the statue something was written in Japanese that Euphy didn't understand, but beneath it, in English: "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more", and beneath that, "in loving memory and honor of the vision of Euphemia and Zero, once stolen and turned to blood and tragedy, but given new life."

"W-what's this statue called?" Euphy said, her throat so constricted by emotion she could barely speak.

"This statue?" Yumiko said, and she smiled softly at Euphy and said, "Redemption."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one thing left after this - an overly sappy epilogue. Stay tuned!


	16. Epilogue

_Seven years later_

It had been a long day.

Suzaku Kururugi-li Britannia had spent most of the day helping his wife and family prepare for the Christmas holiday. Kaguya wanted nothing more than a 'traditional' Britannian Christmas since obviously the Britannians knew how to do it well. To that end, she'd brought quite the party of food and present hunters with her – Gino, Kallen, CC, Jeremiah, Anya, Lelouch, Shirley, Euphy, and even Guilford. That had left only a handful of people to watch the kids – Euphy and Suzaku's Morgan and Katrina, Lelouch and Shirley's Marie (their newborn Julia went with her mom shopping), and Gino and Kallen's Naoto.

And of the people who could watch the kids, Cornelia had quickly bowed out to take a call from Secretary Diethard Reid that had somehow taken up the whole day, Rolo, Nunnally, and Sayoko had left to get a Christmas tree, and Max and Julie had already left for their flight back to Pendragon (it wasn't good for both President Cornelia li Britannia and Vice President Max Eberhardt to be gone for too long from the country, evidently). That left Suzaku to watch a four-year-old, two three-year-olds, and a two-year-old by himself.

It had been utterly exhausting. "I  _really_ wish I had your mother's geass," Suzaku told Katrina at one point, but she didn't understand and kept crying.

And, of course, both Marie and Naoto had separation anxiety, which meant Suzaku went through a lot of ibuprofen for his headache by the time the other parents all came home.

Well, the end result was Cornelia locking her door so Euphy couldn't yell at her and a stern talking-to from Lelouch to Rolo and Nunnally when they came home. At least Marie could reunite with her father and Naoto with his mother.

Gino sat next to Suzaku as the latter wearily watched Morgan draw in a coloring book. "Fatherhood's not easy, is it?" Gino said, and he said, "thanks for watchin' Naoto for us. Means the world to me and Kallen."

"Sure, Gino," Suzaku said. "You looking forward to baby number two?"

"You looking forward to baby number three?" Gino countered.

Suzaku sighed and closed his eyes. "I love my family and my kids, Gino, I really do, but sometimes… well, sometimes it's just hard," he said.

"Yeah," Gino said. "But that's love, right?"

Suzaku nodded.

Kallen called Gino over to help with preparing dinner, and then Suzaku felt a pair of arms wrap around him. He smiled and grabbed them. "How was shopping, my lady?" Suzaku said.

"Good," Euphy said, sliding onto the couch to lean against him. Suzaku smiled and glanced at her. She wasn't showing quite yet, though the deep bags under her eyes showed that she was, indeed, the mother of two small children. She yawned and curled against Suzaku. "We did some gift shopping. Shirley spent an hour trying on kimonos. And I found the cutest pajamas for Katrina."

"Did you get it?" Suzaku said.

"Yeah," Euphy replied. "She's gonna look so adorable on Christmas morning."

"Well, that's only a few days away," Suzaku said.

He closed his eyes and let himself enjoy his wife's warmth and closeness. "Seven years ago, we got back for our first Christmas together," Euphy said.

"Yeah."

"Was I still in a coma back in my prison, the year before that?" Euphy said.

"I don't remember," Suzaku replied, "maybe. If not, I was too angry to notice what it was."

"I'm glad it's different now."

"Yeah."

Suzaku felt a pair of tiny hands tug on his shirt. "Daddy," Morgan said, "snow!"

Suzaku opened his eyes and looked at the window. Sure enough, snow was starting to fall again. "Do you wanna take her outside in the snow, daddy?" Euphy said as Morgan looked insistently at Suzaku, "I can watch Katrina."

"Alright," Suzaku said. He kissed Euphy and then picked Morgan up. "Let's go look at the snow, ok?"

He helped her bundle up and they walked outside. The snow falling was a majestic sight. The evening was starting to set in. As they walked out of the Britannian embassy, Nunnally's home where they were all staying, Suzaku smiled as he watched through the window for just a bit – at Kaguya trying to make traditional Christmas pastries, of Shirley somehow upending a bowl of flour on her head, of Lelouch trying to wash dishes while Marie tugged at his hair, and then finally at Rolo just freezing everyone with his geass so he could save a bowl from Naoto – and then Morgan tugged on his hand. "C'mon, daddy!" Morgan said.

Suzaku took Morgan's hand and together the two walked down the street from the embassy. At the bottom of the street was a big statue, which Morgan had looked at with fascination earlier when Rivalz had dropped them off yesterday (before going back to visit his fiancée at her tv studio). "Do you wanna see that, Morgan?" Suzaku said to her.

Morgan looked up at him with her vibrant purple eyes. "Yeah!" Morgan said.

They walked up to the statue. It was one dedicated to the JLF and the Black Knights and everyone who'd fought for Japan's freedom. Suzaku glanced down at Morgan and frowned when he saw that she'd knocked her hood off, and now snow was starting to fall in her bright pink hair, curly like her father's. "Morgan," he said, "you need to-"

"Who's that?" Morgan said, pointing up.

Suzaku put her hood back on then looked where she was pointing. Then he smiled and picked her up. "That's your grandpa," he said, "your daddy's daddy." He wasn't afraid of Genbu anymore, though he didn't know when he was going to tell his kids what had happened to him.

"Daddy's daddy?" Morgan said.

"Yeah," Suzaku replied, "but he died a long time ago." 15 years, to be exact.

He started walking around the statue, pointing to everyone on it. There was Asahina, who the airport was named after now. There were his other two deceased friends of the Four Holy Swords, who'd also received airport-memorials. There was Chiba, now Nagisa Tohdoh, and her husband. The former was the head of 1st Squadron of the Black Knights, the latter their top general. Morgan didn't seem to care about those tidbits. Then there was Prime Minister Oghi, head of Japan and happily married to Viletta Nu. They had a son. Kaguya, head of the UFN of course. Rakshata, Lloyd, and Cécile, who all worked for the Black Knights' research division, and Tamaki, who was Lelouch's official pilot now.

Then there was Kallen and Gino Weinberg-Kozuki, happily married for the last four years this month, Kallen the head of Zero Squadron and a major general in the Black Knights, Gino still the knight of one and military liaison. There was CC, Lelouch's chief advisor, and Jeremiah, his most loyal servant. There was Diethard, the Secretary of State of the United States of Britannia. There was Nunnally, the ambassador to Japan. And there were the statues of those who'd passed away – General Katase, other members of the Black Knights and the JLF. It was, all things considered, quite the crowded statue.

Above the rest, of course, was Zero, who Morgan stared up wide-eyed at. But there were two others that her eyes soon rested on. "Mommy," she said, pointing, "daddy."

"That's right," Suzaku said, staring at the bronze versions of him and his wife, their hands clasped, looking younger but just as happy. His statue had the pin of knighthood, much as he wore even now, and Euphy had a cherry blossom on her dress. "That's your parents."

They walked through the snow and returned to the embassy. Suzaku smiled as he looked at an old family picture on the wall, one that had Lelouch, Nunnally, Rolo, Cornelia, and Euphy and their spouses all wearing traditional Japanese clothing in front of Mt. Fuji, Euphy in the kimono Suzaku gave her for her birthday seven years ago, and then he helped Morgan get her coat off.

"Daddy," Morgan said, "um… can I have a statue?"

"Maybe one day, Morgan," Suzaku said, kneeling to look her in the eyes. "One day, you can be as great – no, greater – than mommy or me or Uncle Lelouch. Then you can have a hundred statues."

"A hundred!" Morgan said, "that- that's like 10!"

"That's ten tens," Suzaku replied.

Morgan seemed overawed by this and then ran off to tell someone, probably Nunnally or Cornelia.

Suzaku looked back at the picture then back into the embassy as Euphy approached him. "Suzaku," Euphy said, "we've assigned Rolo and Nunnally kid-watching duties. Come help me prepare food. It seems like Shirley and Lelouch would rather do the tree."

"Yes, my lady," Suzaku said. Their hands intertwined as they walked to the kitchen together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, everyone, who's read, left kudos, commented, or at the very least enjoyed this outing. As I said, this had originally been planned to be a simple one-shot. Instead it became a 90k story, and the first real thing I've written in probably four or five years. But it was a lot of fun.
> 
> A note regarding the families shown: I've always headcanoned that Shirley (an only child) and Euphy (who seems to have loved most of her relevant siblings) would want large families. I'd imagine that Kallen would only have one or two if she had kids. I suppose none of this is really important, but it's the approach I took when trying to make a time-skip epilogue, my favorite kind.
> 
> Regarding future plans: I have a tendency to make only one or two stories per fandom, usually depending on how recently I rewatched or replayed. But with a possible R3 upcoming, CG is still on my mind. I have a few half-finished stores (this one is actually about the fourth or fifth Geass thing I've worked on, but the only one worth posting so far) but I have in mind for my next story one that's even more "for-want-of-a-nail" than this one. With luck, I'll finish that one... but we'll see what happens there.
> 
> So yeah, thanks again! Have a wonderful day.


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